Need You Now
by Beautiful Secrets
Summary: /2of4 - Tony/Kristi\ A new agent to NCIS is a blast from the past for Tony. / A distant relative of Ducky's becomes a form of competition for McGee's attention from Abby.
1. Meet Kristi

**Author's Note: Unfortunately, I do not own NCIS, or any of the characters/actors [though if anyone can tell me how I can own Michael Weatherly -purrrrs-]. Kristi and Agent Scott are mine, however, as is the idea of the story. Steal this, I break your fingers. –silly grin- Enjoy!**

_**[PAGE BREAK]**_

"_Get her away from the door!" Kristi turned her head, frowning and wide-eyed, as the officer grabbed her about the waist and pulled her from the door. _

"_What? No! Let me go!" she hollered, wriggling in his arms to get free. He shook his head, ignoring her pleas to be released until they were safely behind the squad car. He grabbed her wrist, and cuffed her to the handle inside the passenger door, sighing. _

"_You have to stay put," he said, as though that would calm her down. Shaking her head and violently ravaging her already disheveled near-black hair, Kristi yanked sharply multiple times at her wrist, somehow hoping something would give – the cuffs, the handle. Her eyes lifted over the top of the car, and she could see through the window into the bank, where a masked man was pacing with a semi-automatic weapon clutched in his hands. His torn and filthy wife-beater was covered by a similarly filthy flannel top, and his jeans were torn at the knees, and looked to be a little too small – the cuffs barely reached the top of his faded tennis shoes. _

Kristi reached over from beneath her blankets, pressing her fingers into the Snooze button to silence the alarm that had barely begun to screech. After a second of silence, she clicked the switch from Off to Radio, pulling her arm back under her blanket as the DJ's voice filled the room. For a minute, Kristi kept her face buried in her feather pillow, not wanting the day to start yet. But as the DJ announced that it was ten passed the hour, she heaved a sigh, and shoved her hands into the mattress. Lifting first her butt, then her back, and finally her head, Kristi kneeled on the bed for a brief moment before making her way off the mattress and into the bathroom through the doorway at the foot of her bed.

At thirty years old, Kristi had already spent eight years in the Marines, two of which she'd spent in college, as well as three years working high-risk jobs between the Marines and a local police department – she'd always joked it was easier to work in the Marines. She grew up in Southern California with her mother, a housewife, and her father, an Army Sergeant, but after her mom left, the family moved to upstate New York, where Kristi took care of her brother, and her dad worked various Army jobs. Now, Kristi lived in a two bed, one bath apartment in Alexandria, less than twenty minutes from the job she was getting ready to start.

_**[PAGE BREAK]**_

The building loomed in front of Kristi, and as she stopped at the gate, she gulped, and sighed, flashing her license at the guard.

"You need clearance," he said, fumbling with his papers. As Kristi sat quietly for a moment, waiting for him to return his gaze to her, she couldn't help but smile – it was incredibly apparent that he was new to the post.

"I start today – I haven't received my identification yet," she explained, saving him the hassle of checking in the papers. "Last name, Reis, first name, Kristine," she said, leaning into her door a little in her attempt to help him. He looked up at her, before nodding, and moving back inside for a second, coming back out with a sheepish grin.

"Sorry about that, Ms. Reis. You're right – and they're expecting you. Go ahead in," he said, taking a step back to lift the arm. A smile on her lips, Kristi waved a thank you, before driving through, watching the arm lower again behind her. She turned down the aisle, braking her car for a moment to let a car back out, before taking its spot.

"Okay Kristi…you can do this. You've had new jobs before - this won't be any more difficult than those," she muttered to herself, before finally shutting off the car, gathering her things, and heading inside the building.

_**[PAGE BREAK]**_

"Good morning, Ms. Reis!" the cheerful voice sounded from behind the desk. Kristi looked over, a little surprised anyone would know her name before she introduced herself, but smiled.

"Good morning….Sarah," she said, reading the name on her nameplate.

"Agent Scott will be down in a minute to show you around. There's coffee, and water, if you're interested," Sarah said, her voice sounding just as peppy as she looked, her lips spread into a wide grin. Kristi smiled back, and thanked her, making her way to the table to her left. Once she'd laid her bag and jacket in the nearest chair, Kristi pushed her dark blonde hair from her face, and poured a small cup of coffee.

It had barely touched her tongue when she flinched, and forced herself not to visibly gag upon the liquid she'd tasted. Glancing around, Kristi set the cup down, and added cream and sugar, hoping it would help. When she gave the same reaction to a second sip, Kristi peered around her, and leaned down, setting the cup, coffee and all, into the trash can.

"I'd rather not drink anything than drink that poison," she muttered to herself, picking up her things again.

"Not the best tasting in the world, I know," a male voice sounded gently over her shoulder. "But Sarah enjoys it, and since she's up front," he said, trailing and shrugging as Kristi turned around, somewhat surprised. "I'm Jonathan Scott," he said, extending his hand for hers. Smiling, she took his and shook it, nodding.

"Kristine Reis…but you can call me Kristi, or Kris – everyone else does," she replied, pulling her hand back from his grip to brush her hair off her face. Jonathan nodded his head.

"Sure thing, Kristi…Come on, I'll show you around while we get your ID taken care of," he said, motioning to Sarah to do just that. He paused, though, and held out his hand for Kristi's things. "Let me put those behind the desk for you – so you don't have to lug them around," he said, taking them as she held them out, and slid them by Sarah's feet. "You can pick them up after we place you," he added, and led her down the hall.

_**[PAGE BREAK]**_

His fingers drummed along the top of his desk as he bobbed his head a little from side to side. He had his eyes glued to the computer screen, barely blinking, as he watched the video playing on his screen while the sound from it filled his ears through his ear buds. Ziva glanced over her desk without moving her head, and then glanced at the other desk, raising an eyebrow at Tim. He did the same, before looking at Ziva, and shrugging. She smirked slightly, and dug out a piece of paper from her drawer, balling it up and tossing it over her computer and his, nailing him right in the forehead. Tony jerked backwards, yanking the buds from his ears, and looked over at her, then at Tim, and then back.

"What was that for?" he asked resentfully. Ziva snickered, and shrugged slightly.

"To stop you from making noise. Shouldn't you be working?" she asked, returning her gaze to her own monitor.

"For your information, Ziva," he said, over-pronouncing her name, "I am doing my morning routine. Just so happens someone emailed me a video," he finished, fumbling with his buds to put them back and finish watching. Gibbs passed behind him, his palm smacking against the back of his head and causing Tony to flinch, before setting his coffee and newspaper down on top of his own desk. "Morning, boss," Tony spoke, rubbing his fingers against his head for a moment before sitting up straight again.

"Get to work, Tony," was all Gibbs replied, stuffing his paper in the top drawer of his desk before taking his coffee and rounding the corner to head up the steps. Tony's eyes met Ziva's over the monitor, then Tim's as he turned his head, before he glanced over his shoulder to watch Gibbs enter MTAC. He sat still for less than a minute before shoving the buds back in, and hitting Play again, smirking as the sound started up.

"One of these days, Gibbs isn't going to just smack him in the back of the head," Tim chuckled, shaking his head. Ziva, laughing lightly, agreed, and reopened her email on the screen.

The elevator behind Ziva dinged, and the doors opened. For a moment, as Tim watched, no one stepped out. He raised an eyebrow, about to point it out to Ziva, for Tony was lost in his email, when Jonathan stepped out, glancing over and putting his hand up to keep the doors open.

"This is the next floor," he said, extending his other hand for Kristi's. She smiled, and took it, stepping off the elevator. As the doors closed behind them, Jonathan released her hand, and motioned. "This way…" Kristi turned, following him down the hall as he talked. He paused, though, by Ziva's desk.

"Agent David," he said, smiling. She glanced over her shoulder, and smiled in return.

"Good morning, Agent Scott."

"This is our newest recruit. Kristi Reis," he said, leading her around the short wall so they could see her. Ziva stood, as Kristi turned to her.

"Welcome to NCIS, Kristi. I'm Ziva David. That is Tim McGee," she said, pointing over to Tim's desk. He smiled brightly at her, and waved.

"Morning, Kristi!" She couldn't help but chuckle, and smile back, giving a small wave.

"Good morning, Tim," Kristi replied, glancing at Ziva as she extended her arm to point across at Tony.

"And that slug over there who is paying no attention i-"

"Tony?" Kristi asked, raising an eyebrow, as she turned to see him. In an instant, Ziva and Tim were looking at each other curiously and confusedly, before Tim hopped off his chair, and moved to Tony's desk, tugging the buds from his ears. Tony jumped, and turned around, frowning.

"Hey! Who taught you manners, Probie?"

"Who taught you?" Tim replied, grabbing the back of the chair and turning him towards Kristi, who still stood, surprised. Tony sat quietly for a moment, looking at her, a frown still on his lips. Ziva and Tim glanced at each other, eyebrow raised, as Jonathan stepped around the wall to stand closer to Ziva and Kristi.

For a couple moments, no one said anything, and Tim suddenly wasn't sure if he should have done what he did. Carefully, he backed away from the chair, back towards his own desk, just in case Tony decided to turn and hit him. As Jonathan cleared his throat, Kristi's face suddenly became a light pink, and she blinked a couple times, looking down at her feet.

"…Good morning, Tony," she replied, stepping back one step. He cleared his own throat, glancing at Jonathan, before looking back at Kristi.

"Good morning, Kris," he replied, hesitating for a second before pushing his chair back around his desk. Jonathan looked around at the four for a moment, before taking a breath.

"I just told Ziva…Kristi is our newest recruit," he said slowly. Tony nodded, glancing at his computer before looking back up.

"Cool…eh…she's a good person to have around," Tony replied, finally, and Kristi bit down upon her bottom lip before turning her attention back to Jonathan.

"Can we keep going now?" she asked in a faint voice, where he almost didn't hear her at all. Darting his dark blue eyes from Kristi to Tony, Jonathan finally nodded, and led her back around the desks. She looked over her shoulder, and smiled to Ziva and Tim. "It was nice to meet you both," she said, but merely glanced at Tony before they disappeared behind the stairs.

Within a second, Ziva and Tim were standing around Tony, an expectant look on their faces. He didn't look up, however – he merely kept his eyes on his monitor for a moment, before releasing a sigh, and looking up.

"Can I help you two with something? Or are you just trying to burn a hole in my skull?" Ziva opened her mouth to question, but Tim shook his head, raising an eyebrow.

"What kind of a greeting was _that_ for our new agent?" he asked, a small smirk on his face.

"Wipe that smirk off your face, McGee, or I'll wipe it off for ya," Tony answered shortly, shaking his head and not actually answering the question.

"C'mon, Tony, you have to admit it – that was definitely not something you do," Ziva said, as Gibbs bounded down the steps, coffee still in hand.

"What wasn't, Ziva?" he asked, not stopping as he rounded the corner to his desk. Ziva and Tim hopped back to their own desks, and looked over.

"Jonathan Scott just introduced us to our newest agent – turns out, she and Tony know each other…but he isn't talking, and he just acted very…un-Tony," Tim explained, shrugging. Gibbs paused, looking around at the three agents – two of whom were actually looking at him – before raising an eyebrow and looking at Tim.

"And this is the biggest news of the day because….?" Tim glanced at Ziva, before shrugging and shaking his head.

"Sorry, boss," he said quickly, moving back to sit in his desk. Gibbs, smirking slightly, pointed at Tim.

"McGee, get the car. Ziva, DiNozzo, grab the gear – we got a dead Marine," he replied, grabbing his own jacket and rounding the corner towards the elevator. Ziva and Tim were up in less than a second, grabbing their things and booking it. Tony, however, sat still for a moment, glancing up as Gibbs and Ziva passed by his desk, before closing his computer windows and grabbing his own bag to follow behind them.


	2. Welcome to NCIS

The elevator doors dinged just prior to closing behind Kristi and Jonathan. She glanced behind her, and smiled a little.

"Well…I suppose I'll get used to riding the elevator so much, right?" she asked, somewhat sheepishly. "I usually walk, take the stairs – I've avoided the elevator unless I had no choice," she explained, as Jonathan chuckled, and patted her arm.

"You'll be fine," he said, smiling as he led her across the hall and through a set of doors. He stopped short, shaking his head, as the loud beat filled both of their ears. Kristi flinched, though barely, and rubbed her ear as she looked around. Jonathan held up a hand, and looked at her, mouthing 'I'll be right back', before crossing the lab to another set of doors. Kristi looked around, and took a few steps, glancing at the equipment lined along the walls. As she bent down to see more, the music's volume dropped, and she turned, her feet slipping and sending her onto her butt on the floor.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" came a pleasant, apologetic female voice. Kristi looked up as the other woman bounded around the table, and helped Kristi back to her feet. "I didn't mean to startle you," she said, hopping back a step as Kristi dusted herself off.

"No, no, it's okay," she replied, with a laugh and a smile. "I fall a lot – this was nothing," she added, before dusting her hand off on her thigh, and holding it out. "I'm Kristi Reis…Jonathan keeps introducing me as the n-"

"The new recruit! Oh! I heard someone new was coming in! I'm Abby!" she replied, shaking her hand vigorously. Jonathan leaned around a little, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm giving her the grand tour, Abby. Next up will be Ducky and Palm-" Abby turned on her heels which, as Kristi looked down and noticed, were quite thick, and actually lifted Abby a good five inches off the floor, and looked at Jonathan, quickly butting in and cutting him off.

"You can't! Ducky and Palmer are with Gibbs and the others. Some crime scene. They'll have to wait," she informed him, a grin on her lips.

Kristi shrugged slightly, and pushed her hair from her face, stopping Jonathan before he could speak again.

"Not a problem. I could definitely spend more time down here. Suicide Commando, right?" she asked, motioning over her head to indicate the music. Abby looked over her shoulder before completely turning to face Kristi. The surprise on her face was practically priceless.

"You know Suicide Commando?" she asked, raising an eyebrow, before glancing at the motioning hand, and then back. Kristi nodded, grinning. "Okay, so far, _by_ far, you are definitely GOOD in my book," she said, jumping around and racing passed Jonathan to the other room before coming back with a CD in her hands. "Have you heard this one?" she asked, pointing her finger to one of the songs before turning the case towards Kristi. Dragging her brown eyes over the casing to read the title, Kristi smirked, and nodded slowly.

"I listen to that one when I'm angry – it's the best." Abby, giving a small squeal and a laugh on her way back to the other room, booked it back around Jonathan, putting the player on the track she'd pointed out.

"If you encourage her, she'll never stop," he groaned, shaking his head. A frown quickly formed on Kristi's lips.

"**I** like her, Jonathan. And I like the music. I apologize if you don't – but you still have to take me around for the tour and the meet-and-greet…"

_**[PAGE BREAK]**_

After finally leaving Abby's lab, Jonathan led Kristi to varying spots in the building, trying to keep her entertained until he could introduce her to the medical examiner. When they did finally return, and were down in the morgue, Abby found the two, giving them the heads up that they could go visit Ducky and Palmer.

Upon exiting the elevator, Jonathan looked at Kristi.

"How's it going, so far?" he asked. "I'm not…you know…boring you, am I?" he asked hopefully. A laugh from Kristi made him grimace, but she patted his shoulder.

"You're doing just fine. Don't worry about it." He led her into the hall, moving towards the automatic glass doors a few feet away. Jonathan paused, peering inside, before looking at her.

"Just checking – this is the morgue, and I would hate to bring you in if the body was fully on display…I'd feel rude," he replied, leading her into the morgue and glancing around. Kristi stepped in, and peered around herself, smiling slightly. The metal tables were set up in the middle of the floor, the freezers along the far wall, and on the wall nearest Kristi and Jonathan, was a desk with a computer and a phone set up on it. Sitting at the computer was a younger man, his fingers racing across the keys as the various windows on the screen disappeared, being replaced with ones that actually looked like he was doing work.

"Jimmy! Where's Dr. Mallard?" Jimmy turned quickly in his chair, straightening out his glasses, before he looked around.

"Oh, uh…he…well, he _was_…"

"I'm right here, Mister Palmer," came a voice with a kind British accent. Kristi turned, as a shorter, elder gentleman walked in, his body covered in scrubs, a cap in his hands. "Oh, hello, Mr. Scott. To what do I owe this meeting?" he asked, setting his cap down and tugging off the scrubs to move over by Kristi and Jonathan. Stepping to the side, Jonathan placed a hand on Kristi's back, more or less shoving her a step forward towards Ducky and Jimmy, who had moved away from the computer.

"This is Kristi Reis – our newest," he said simply, smiling. "Kristi…this is Dr. Mallard, and Jimmy Palmer…"

"Oh, you can call me Ducky," he said, holding his hand out for Kristi's. She moved a little, reaching out her hand, but paused, raising an eyebrow. Confused, Ducky glanced down, and chuckled, looking back up apologetically. "Sorry about that," he said quickly, tugging off the rubber gloves before reaching back out and shaking her hand. Once he let go, Jimmy stuck out his hand, shaking hers quickly, and she raised an eyebrow, but smiled at them both.

"It's a pleasure to meet you two," she said, releasing Jimmy's hand and glancing around a little. "Everyone seems really nice – I hope it's not just an act," Kristi said, mostly to herself, but inevitably loud enough for the three to hear. Ducky gave a soft laugh, and shook his head.

"The majority of those here are rather nice. Some have a not-so-nice flair about them, but generally…" Ducky trailed off, shrugging a little, before looking to Jonathan. "Have you already taken her to meet Jethro and the others?"

"She met the team…I didn't know where Gibbs was," he replied, shrugging lightly. There was a light _whoosh_ behind them as the automatic doors slid open, and Ducky smirked.

"As if he just knew he was being talked about."

"I hope that's in a good way, Ducky," came Gibbs' voice from behind them. Kristi turned, peering at Jonathan, who also turned with her.

"Of course in a good way, Agent Gibbs…this is K-"

"Let me guess. Reis, right? Newest recruit that's already visited everywhere else?" he asked, looking into her eyes as he spoke. She swallowed hard, but nodded her head, forcing a smile.

"That's me, Agent Gibbs…"

Gibbs looked at her, then at Jonathan, Ducky, and Palmer, and back at her.

"Welcome to NCIS."

_**[PAGE BREAK]**_

Leaning back into her chair, Kristi looked around a little, and smiled. She had her own desk, her own computer, and her own phone. She'd placed her bag at her feet beneath the desk, and draped her coat over the back of her chair, within moments of being placed at this desk, only a few feet from the desks that Gibbs and Ziva were sitting in. As it was her first day, Kristi had only been given papers to fill out, "a formality," as Jonathan put it when he'd placed them and the black Bic in front of her and left her to fill them out.

The forms had been completed for a while, but, not yet ready to relinquish her seat to find more work, Kristi took in the floor, observing the others around her, the faux-cubicles they sat in, and their behaviors amongst each other. Several times, she found herself peering across the wall behind her, passed Ziva's desk, and over at Tony. Every time, she'd shake her head, and slap her hand, forcing herself to turn her attention to something else, anything else.

Finally giving up wasting time, Kristi turned her papers in as Jonathan instructed her to, before returning to her desk to successfully end her first day at NCIS. As her screen went black, and she removed her bag from beneath the desk, she heard Abby's voice behind her.

"Hey, guys! Who's free tonight?" Three different voices announced various plans, from working on their writing, to having a date, and when Kristi turned around, Abby was the only one standing in the middle of the floor. Gibbs was no longer on that side of the wall, and Kristi, though confused, assumed he'd either already left, or was busy elsewhere.

"Abby? If you want, I'm free tonight," she offered kindly, smiling. Kristi had never once passed up a chance to get to know someone she worked with – she found it made it easier to work when she knew about the people she was with. The smile on Abby's face was sweet, and hopeful.

"You sure? I mean, you don't have to hang out with me. You can spend the night…doing whatever you do at night," she replied, shrugging and smiling anyways. Kristi hooked her bag over her shoulder, and her jacket across her arm, shaking her head.

"I spend the night staring at my television, wondering why I'm not out doing something better with my time," Kristi laughed, walking around the wall. "Come on…want to go to Rocket Bar? We could play pool…or just irritate the regulars with 'bizarre' juke box music." Kristi couldn't help but snicker at her suggestion as Abby walked up to her, and they moved to the elevator.

"I love Rocket Bar! You, Kristi, are definitely moving up in my books," Abby laughed, hitting the button as the doors in the elevator closed.

_**[PAGE BREAK]**_

The clock read 2:07 when Kristi walked in, turning both the lock on the knob and the deadbolt as she shut the door. Dropping her bag onto the floor beside the door, she tossed her coat over the top of it, kicked her shoes off beside it, and made her way across the apartment to the bedroom. Within a few minutes, her skirt, blouse, and bra were draped across the bed, her body now covered with a knee-length dark red night shirt. Her fingers found the ON button of her radio in the dark, before she shuffled back around the bed and dropped her wardrobe from that day into the hamper around the corner in her bathroom.

Kristi paused, peering over at the faint blue numbers on her clock, before shuffling back to the bed, and flopping down on top of the covers. The music spilled gently from her radio, and a small smile formed on her lips as _Need You Now_ began to play.

_It's quarter after one, I'm all alone, and I need you now…_

Just as Kristi rolled onto her back, she heard the vibration of her phone on the nightstand. Frowning, she rolled over a little to lay on her side. Sure enough, the clock read 2:17, just as she assumed it would. The young woman propped herself up on her elbow, and reached for the cell, turning it around in her hands to see who on Earth would be calling her at this time of night.

Without even needing to think about it, even without a name to identify it properly, Kristi knew that number, flashing on her screen, sending her phone into a repetitive jolt as it practically begged for her to answer. Her fingers landed on the sides of her phone, incredibly tempted to flip it open and answer the call. But she hesitated, and shook her head, finally letting it go, and putting it back down on the nightstand.

"Sorry," she murmured, shaking her head again as she slid beneath the covers, and rested her head upon the pillow. "Goodnight, Tony."


	3. Family Ties

Thirty-five sheets from Kristi's "Quote a Day" calendar lay, torn from their base, just inside her center desk drawer. She liked to keep tabs of the days she's worked – any day she missed was marked with a red pen, for her own comfort if nothing else. Thirty-five days passed since she was given that desk only a few feet from Ziva and Gibbs. In the top drawer to her right, Kristi kept her gun – something she only recently got, despite the few years she spent handling one every day with Metro – and her badge, both hidden slightly by a few sheets of paper, and a newspaper from a few days prior.

Kristi lifted her head from her computer screen when Abby's black boots came into her sight, just beyond her desk, and she smiled up at her new friend.

"Afternoon, Abby," she said, leaning back in her chair.

"Hi!" she replied, before glancing over her shoulder at Ziva, who was holding an envelope.

"What, uh…what's going on?" Kristi questioned, eyebrow raised. Ziva gave a smile, and held out the envelope for her.

"Three passes! My friend's band is playing in Alexandria tonight, and I thought you and Ziva would like to go – a girl's night out! Ziva already said yes," Abby explained quickly, with her trademark grin and pleasant, hopeful voice backing her up. Kristi, with a laugh, looked at the passes inside the envelope, and handed them up to Abby.

"Of _course_ I'll go. Though you'd better hang on to these – I have a habit of forgetting things in my desk," she laughed lightly. Abby, grinning, took two quick hops around the desk, and embraced Kristi quickly, before pocketing the tickets.

"Great!"

"Are we all taking one car?" Kristi asked, looking between them both. Ziva glanced at Abby, and shrugged.

"It does not matter to me," Ziva replied, as Abby smiled.

"We can take my car, if you two don't mind leaving yours' here," she offered, something Kristi answered with a smile and a nod.

"Sounds good…I'm looking forward to it!"

_**[PAGE BREAK]**_

"_Next stop, Union Station! Union Station, next stop!" _the voice sounded over the speakers. Mallory lifted her head from her camera, which she cradled in her fingers with care, but security. She turned her head, peering out the window, and quickly began replacing her camera in the somewhat bulky blue canvas bag beside her. Mallory checked her phone, sliding her fingers through her chestnut locks to move them from her eyes. No missed calls. Smiling a little, she waited for the train to come to a complete stop, and the voice to announce the stop once more, before she hoisted her duffel bag across her shoulders, draped her camera bag off one shoulder, and picked up her suitcase with the other hand, and made her way through the throng of travelers and tourists that were swarmed around her.

"Excuse me…pardon me…excuse me," she spoke gently, though somewhat loudly for those around her to hear, as she passed through them to distance herself from the train. Mallory stopped for a moment, turning around in a circle to get her bearings, before she headed into the station, and towards the other set of doors, leading her to the parking lot. Just prior to the doors, she set her things down on the bench, and took a seat beside them. She looped the strap of her duffel bag around one leg, set her camera bag on top of her suitcase beside her on the bench, and looped the strap of the camera bag on her wrist, before removing her phone from her pocket, and holding it in her hands once again, as she waited.

As twenty minutes passed, and her ride never showed, Mallory began to fumble with her phone, growing increasingly nervous that she'd either been forgotten, or something terrible had happened. Just as she began to imagine the horrible things, her phone buzzed, announcing she had a missed call, and a new message. Frowning, she checked the settings on her phone, and sighed – somewhere during the trip, the buttons of her phone had been pressed, setting it to go straight to voicemail instead of ringing for her to answer. Having become accustomed this happening, Mallory reset the settings, called the phone a derogatory name in a rather soft voice, before punching in the number for her voicemail, and putting the phone to her ear.

"_You have ONE new message. New message: _Hello, Dear. I'm terribly sorry I'm not there to get you! I was just getting ready to leave, and my chance was taken – work, you know. When they need you, there is no discussion. So instead I took a favor and sent a friend to pick you up. He should be getting there shortly – his name is Timothy, and I made sure to give him a picture of you…I also suggested he carry a sign with your name on it, but he thought I was joking, so he just left with the picture. Just wait outside for him, he'll find you. I'll see you soon, dear!" Mallory couldn't help but laugh, before she hung up the phone, and gathered her things, making her way out the door to stand on the sidewalk just outside.

Just as the message promised, within ten minutes, a deep blue Dodge Charger pulled into the Pick-Up Lane, and slowly crept up to the door. Mallory peered in, eyebrow raised, only to see the driver looking on both sides of the car, and then back at a picture in his hands. She began to laugh, trying to keep from covering her face for his benefit, as he finally jerked the car to a stop a few feet from her. Rolling down the window, Tim leaned across the center console, and looked at her.

"Are you Mallory?" he asked, glancing at the picture again. She nodded, still giggling, as she moved her things next to the car. Tim shoved the car in park, and rolled up the passenger window before climbing out quickly, and jogged around the car. "Hi, Mallory. I'm Tim McGee…D-…Dr. Mallard sent me to get you," he said, opening the passenger door for her. "I'll put your things in the trunk," he added, moving to take them from her. She handed off her duffel bag and suitcase, but kept her hands on her camera bag.

"Sorry…I never put this out of my sight," she said sheepishly. "And thank you very much, Tim," she added, biting her lip as she looked at him before lowering herself into the front seat, setting the bag at her feet. Tim hesitated, before reaching into the glove compartment to pop the trunk, and jogging back to put the duffel and suitcase away. Within seconds of shutting the trunk, he moved, and climbed into the driver's seat, looking back at Mallory, who was clicking her seatbelt on.

"So…uh…how, eh, do you know Du-, Dr. Mallard?" he asked, not sure if she knew who he'd mean if he simply said "Ducky." His suspicion was confirmed when she looked at him with a temporarily confused expression.

"He is my Uncle," she replied simply, with a slight smile. "What were you going to call him?" she then asked, her attention no longer focused on Tim, but instead on the road ahead of them as he pulled away from the train station.

"We all call him Ducky…you know…since his last name is Mallard?" Tim attempted to explain. Mallory nodded her head.

"I know the name…I've heard it since I was little," she giggled lightly. He couldn't help himself – Tim gulped a little, and, as they paused at a Stop sign, he glanced over, sitting a few seconds longer than he needed to just to look at her. Gulping once more, and quickly looking back ahead of them as she turned to see him, he pressed his foot into the gas pedal, jerking the car as he pulled passed the sign.

_**[PAGE BREAK]**_

As the elevator opened, Tim led Mallory through the door, and smiled at her.

"You've never been to Washington before?" he asked, as she set her camera bag down to put her camera back inside. She shook her head, blushing.

"Nope…this is the first time here…Ducky invited me to come here – he's the only family I've got," she said simply. Tim, though interested, knew to leave well-enough alone on such a matter, and didn't ask.

Tony glanced over his desk, and opened his mouth to speak to Ziva, before he noticed Tim, and, within a few seconds, Mallory, as she stood.

"Whoa…what is Probie doin' with a _girl_?" he asked. Ziva turned around quickly, and raised an eyebrow.

"I do not know Tony. Maybe she is a friend? Or a new agent?"

"Another new agent? Doubtful, Ziva – 'sides, McGee doesn't show newbies around. He's got other things to do," he pointed out, putting his hands on his desk and lifting himself out of his chair.

Tim caught sight of Tony watching him and Mallory, and sighed, stopped in mid-step.

"You know…why don't we walk around the cubicles this way," he said, turning her the other way, and passed by Kristi's currently empty desk, leading her across the hall and off to find Ducky. Tony grumbled, and snapped his fingers.

"Dang it, Probie!" he complained, shaking his head. As always, the slap from behind him jerked his head forward, making him flinch and shut his eyes.

"Mornin', Boss!"

_**[PAGE BREAK]**_

Mallory looked around as they approached the automatic doors at the morgue, and hesitated when she saw the freezers, before looking to Tim.

"Is there a body out in the open in here?" she asked, turning away from the room, as she looked to him for an answer. Tim looked around, and checked each table, before shaking his head.

"Ducky must have put it away for now," he said, leading her in. "Ducky? You in here?" Tim called.

"Just a moment, my boy!" a voice replied from down a second hall. Tim planted his hands into his pockets, before looking at Mallory.

"…Do you want me to hold your bag for you?" he offered, smiling at her. For a second, Mallory had forgotten she was holding her camera bag, and almost asked what he meant, before glancing down, and blushing.

"Oh! Uh, no, thank you. I'm just…" She looked around, and set the bag alongside the desk on the wall. "I'll just put it there…it's hard to notice from there, right?" she asked. Tim frowned, but nodded, as she walked back over. "Nothin' personal. I just…thought you'd have to get back to work, so I didn't want to put you on the spot," she said, debating for a second before holding out her hand. "Thank you, by the way…for picking me up today." Tim shook her hand gently, and nodded, grinning.

"Not a problem. I enjoyed it," he said, and as he released her hand, the doors on the opposite side of the room opened, and Ducky stepped through, removing his cap and scrubs.

"Oh, Timothy. Thank you very much for doing me such a favor this morning," he said, laying his things across one of the examining tables, before approaching Mallory. "My dear, you have grown more beautiful every time I see you…and it is wonderful to see you again, as well," he said, patting her shoulders, before enveloping her in an embrace. Tim stepped back and watched, as Mallory placed her head on his shoulder, and embraced him, as well.

"It's good to see you too, Uncle DD," she replied, planting a gentle kiss upon Ducky's cheek.

"That's a name I do miss hearing," Ducky said sweetly, "but you know you can simply call me Ducky if you find it easier…or more fun," he offered, but patted her on the back twice, returning the kiss on her cheek, before releasing her.

"Okay…I will keep that in mind," Mallory replied with a laugh, before Ducky turned around to see Tim.

"It was no problem, Ducky. Glad I could help…I'm going to head back upstairs – Tony was giving me that look," he said, shaking his head, before chuckling slightly. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Mallory," he added, smiling at her. She returned the smile.

"Same here, Tim," she replied, as he headed out the doors, and headed back to his desk.

Mallory looked back at Ducky, and smiled.

"Come on, dear. I have a little bit of time – I want to introduce you to…someone I think you might make friends with," he said, moving to place his arm around her waist. She held up a hand, moving to grab her camera bag, before walking back over and nodding. Ducky planted a hand on her back, and headed out with her.

"I've only been in town less than an hour, Uncle DD…are you already trying to set me up with someone?" Mallory joked, chuckling as she put her hand around Ducky's shoulders. He laughed lightly, but shook his head.

"No, dear, no. I'm going to introduce you to our Forensic Specialist. I think she might be someone you'd enjoy taking pictures of – she's incredibly photogenic. Her name is Abby."

_**[PAGE BREAK]**_

"No way, Tony!" Abby's voice sounded in her lab. "I'm not going to call McGee down here _just_ to find out if he's seeing someone! You do that – isn't that part of your job?" she asked, with a laugh in her voice, as the doors opened.

"Abby?" Ducky questioned. Abby turned, and reached down, hanging up her phone – and ultimately cutting Tony off – before grinning.

"Hi, Ducky! What's got you in here?" she asked, tilting her head curiously. Ducky looked at Mallory.

"Abby, this is my niece, Mallory. She's a photographer. Mallory, this is Abigail – or Abby, if you rather. She's our Forensic Specialist," he introduced, nudging Mallory forward and letting go of her. Mallory didn't say anything for a minute, although Abby did tell her 'Hi,' and asked about her camera. However, Mallory did grin, and finally set her bag down.

"Uncle DD, you're right – I think you'd be a great subject for pictures, Abby," she said, before blushing. "Oh…Hi!" she added, opening her bag and holding out the camera, but not relinquishing it. Abby looked at it, and moved closer, taking hold of Mallory's hands to turn the camera and look at it without touching it.

"Oo! Great camera! Very reliable!" she exclaimed, smiling, before she let go of Mallory, and bounced back a few steps, striking a pose for her. Mallory fumbled for a second, turning the camera on, and lifted the view to her eye, snapping multiple shots as Abby continuously switched poses.

The doors opened behind them, and Abby jumped, standing at attention quickly. Mallory's finger hit the button, before she noticed, and turned around, blushing. Gibbs stood at the doorway, a large white and red cup in his hand, and an eyebrow raised.

"Aren't you supposed to be in the morgue, Ducky?" he asked, looking.

"Uh, yes, Jethro – I was just introducing my niece to Abby. Thought she'd feel more comfortable up here than with a dead Sailor," Ducky explained, looking back at Mallory, who nodded in agreement.

"Niece? You holdin' out, Ducky?" he asked, crossing the floor and handing the cup to Abby, who just grinned, and took a long drink through the straw before setting it onto her desk.

"Of course not, Jethro. Mallory, this is Jethro Gibbs," he introduced. "Jethro, this is Mallory Quinn." Gibbs looks at Mallory for a moment, before reaching out and shaking her hand.

"Nice meeting you. It's up to Abby, but…" He shrugged slightly. "You're welcome to stay in here with Abby while he works in the morgue," Gibbs said, and waited silently for a moment, no longer looking at Mallory, though she nodded, and thanked him as she shook his hand.

"…Oh! That's my cue," Ducky said suddenly, before stepping over, and kissing Mallory on the cheek. "You're welcome to come back down at any time, if you wish," he offered. "But I'll make sure to get you back before I'm off for the night," he smiled, hugging her once more. "I'm so glad to have you here," he said, before glancing at Gibbs, and quickly exiting the lab.

Gibbs, smiling, turned his attention to Abby, as Mallory took a seat on the stool nearest her, and flipped back through the pictures she had taken. Digging a pen from her pocket, she careful jotted down the Picture Number for the ones she wanted to look at on her computer later on, and smiled at the last one of Abby. In her salute, she looked much like a soldier – except for the obvious differences – but she had a smile on her lips, and a look of respect in her eyes. Mallory looked up for a moment to see Abby and Gibbs, and couldn't help but grin as Abby gave a pleased smile, and Gibbs gave a small smile, leaning over her shoulder to place a very loving kiss upon her cheek before heading back out of the lab.


	4. Aviator Fuel and Friends

Pulling the Morgan into the drive, Ducky flipped the headlights off, and placed the vehicle in park.

"Here we are, my dear," he said, turning his head to see Mallory, before giving a smile. She was still looking around the car in awe, as she'd been since she climbed into the seat beside him. When a moment went by, and she hadn't said anything, Ducky reached over, and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Dear?"

Mallory jumped slightly, before looking up at him, and blushing.

"Sorry, Uncle DD," she replied sheepishly, as he climbed from the car with her, and gathered her suitcase in his hands.

"Don't apologize, Mallory – it's quite alright." He smiled up at her, putting his hand on her back to lead her up to the house. "Now…I had planned on making quite the feast for us for dinner, but that was counting on getting to come home much sooner. So…I hope whatever we can rustle up will be alright," Ducky said, setting the suitcase down long enough to remove his keys from his pocket and open the door. With a smile, Mallory lifted her suitcase from under his hand, and nodded.

"I'm okay with anything right now…I fell asleep on the train, so I didn't get to eat," she admitted, nudging the door closed behind them. Ducky's fingers pushed the light switch before he turned to see her, hanging his hat and coat upon two side-by-side hooks near the door.

"Well, let me show you to your room, and we'll put something together for dinner," he said, taking her jacket off her arm and hanging it up, as well, before leading her through the house and up the steps to the room he had already designated for her.

After Mallory had nearly unpacked all of her things, she made her way back down the carpeted staircase, and hesitated, before turning around the corner and entering the kitchen.

"I was afraid you had gotten lost upstairs," Ducky spoke from his place by the stove. With a laugh, Mallory walked across the kitchen and shook her head.

"I just unpacked some of my things. Did you decide what you wanted to make?" she asked, looking around before taking a guess at where the plates were.

"Lucky guess, Mallory," he said, as she opened the cupboard to reveal a stack of dishes. "I decided on my mother's fried chicken – I felt it would be easier than cooking most of everything else there is," Ducky added, chuckling a little as he shut off the stove.

"Sounds fantastic, Uncle DD," she said, setting up the table, and helping him set the food out.

Ducky took a sip of his iced tea, peering over the top of his glasses to look at Mallory, before clearing his throat and placing the glass back on the table.

"You seem rather quiet, dear…is everything alright?" he asked, reaching over and patting her hand. Mallory looked up from her plate, and she blushed, but smiled.

"Yes, yeah…I'm fine. It's been a while since I've…since I've had dinner with family," Mallory sheepishly admitted. He smiled, and nodded, completely understanding. Outside of his mother, it had been a long time since he had sat for dinner with his family, too. "I was…wondering." Ducky looked up at her, eyebrow raised. "About…Tim?" The smile on Ducky's face was followed immediately by a chuckle.

"Timothy is a remarkable lad. Very bright," Ducky said, nodding his head. "He has a good heart, generally with the best of intentions. Timothy…he does his best. It doesn't always sit well with Jethro or the others, but he knows what is right." Ducky looked up at Mallory for a moment, before smiling. "He has willfully put his family before his career with NCIS…and he loves his career." He stopped, and waited to hear Mallory reply, but when he looked up, he saw why she wasn't – there was a smile on her face, as sweet a one as Ducky had ever seen.

_**[PAGE BREAK]**_

Mallory glanced at the calendar on Abby's desktop, before laughing lightly.

"Hey, Abby!" After a second, the door opened, and Abby poked her head around the corner to see Mallory, her pigtails still somewhat swinging and batting her in the forehead.

"Yeah?"

"Can you believe I've been in your lab almost every day for the past two weeks?" she asked, pointing at the computer. Abby grinned, and bounced a little on the balls of her feet.

"I can't! But it makes me happy! I rarely have such constant company down here…don't get me wrong, I like working alone, and if I ever find out I'm getting an assistant, I'll…I don't know what I'll do, but I'm sure it will be something untraceable…but it's nice to have someone around to talk to! That isn't McGee or Tony!" she said, moving and giving Mallory a hug before scooting back towards her equipment.

Grinning, Mallory stood, and followed her out, leaning against the desk to watch Abby work. For a minute, the two just listened to the music pumping from the speakers, until the doors opened, and Kristi walked in, her arm extended in front of her.

"Hey, Abby! Hi, Mallory," she said, smiling at both girls, before handing Abby the small vial in her hands. "DNA, from Ducky. My luck that I was in the room at the time he needed this delivered. How're you doing, Mallory?" Kristi asked, rounding the desk to give Mallory a welcome hug. Since Mallory started coming in with Ducky, and while Kristi was down in Abby's lab, the three girls would spend a lot of the time talking, or listening to the music. As new as Kristi and Mallory still were to NCIS, they seemed to have made at least one good mutual friend, in Abby, as well as good friends in each other.

After putting the sample in her machine, and setting it to work its magic – and talking to it sweetly to coax it into working – Abby turned around, and grinned at both girls. For a minute, they grinned back, before Mallory and Kristi peeked at each other, curious.

"…What's up, Abby?" Mallory finally asked, tilting her head. Abby looked between them for a second, before jumping slightly and holding up her hands a little.

"I think we need a girl's night! It _is_ Friday! We should go out, get a drink! Just us three. A girl's night!" she exclaimed excitedly. Both girls laughed, knowing it was impossible to resist Abby's charms.

"Of course we'll go out with you!" they both replied, as Abby hopped happily across the floor, hugging them both.

_**[PAGE BREAK]**_

Music pumped from the speakers, filling the emptiness in the bar. The lights were low around the majority of the room, except over the pool tables, and the bar itself. The dark bottle slid down the bar, into Tony's palm, as he waved a thank you to the bartender.

"What'd ya bring me here for, Probie?" he asked, glancing over at Tim without moving his head. Tim looked over at him, and shrugged, taking a sip of his own drink.

"What, it's suddenly not okay for me to invite my friend out for a drink?" Tim replied, shrugging again and not actually answering the question. Tony scoffed, and shook his head.

"That isn't an answer, McSneaky – you gotta give me more than that."

"I mean it, Tony – I just thought you'd like to have a couple drinks. On me," he said, tilting his bottle to tap it against Tony's. Tony eyed him suspiciously, before shrugging, tapping his bottle on Tim's, and drinking a little more.

Across the room, the doors opened, and Abby led Mallory and Kristi inside.

"Most of the place has little light, but the bar is lit up enough for conversation. So how about we start with a drink, and then play pool?" she asked, already leading them to the bar. Kristi laughed, and patted her fingers against her pockets, making sure her wallet and phone were in securely enough that she would know if someone attempted to snag them from her.

"Sounds good," Mallory replied, a grin on her face as she took a seat at the bar. Kristi moved in around Abby and Mallory to sit on Mallory's other side from Abby. For a moment, she wasn't aware that anyone else had been even sitting at the bar, until their voices sounded over the music.

"Hey, Abs! What brings you to this part of town?" Tony's voice sounded from the other end of the bar. As quickly as the smile reached her face upon entering the bar, it faded, and she turned her head, peeking around Mallory.

"Havin' a girls' night," she said, moving and hugging both boys and smiling at Tim before leaning across the bar to order drinks. Tony chuckled, smirking for a moment before seeing Mallory and Kristi a few seats down. He turned back, taking another drink of his beer, before grasping Tim's shoulder, and tugging him down.

"Is _that_ why you brought me here, _Elf Lord_?" he said softly, frowning. Tim shook his head, putting on an innocent face.

"Not at all. I had no idea they were going out for a girls' night," he replied, shrugging and tugging his arm away from Tony to continue taking a drink of his own.

"Just remember what they say about payback," Tony said, putting his empty bottle on the bar and moving to the juke box at the end of the bar. Abby turned her head towards Tim, as she waited for the drinks.

"Does he know?" she asked quietly, raising an eyebrow.

"He suspects…it's Tony – he probably thinks everyone is out to get him," Tim chuckled, shaking his head.

Kristi bit down on her lip, and looked at Mallory, before turning to the bartender as her drink was set before her.

"What'd you get?" Mallory asked, looking back over at her friend. Kristi pushed her drink a little, before picking it up, and smiling.

"It's called Aviator Fuel…it's Vodka, lemonade, Sprite." Mallory raised an eyebrow, and Kristi slid it over to her. "Don't knock it till ya try it," she smiled, waiting as Mallory took a sip. She hesitated, before smiling.

"Not bad," she replied, with a grin, before taking her own drink and downing some of it. "I've got a rum and coke. Not as classy sounding, but still delicious," she laughed. Kristi, laughing herself, nodding her head.

"It is good. Always will be, unless they change the way rum is made….or the way Coke is made," she said, shrugging slightly. Kristi turned slightly in her seat, hesitating when she saw Tony at the jukebox, one hand on the side, the other pressing the buttons to change the page, or choose the song.

Abby and McGee looked between Tony and Kristi for a couple moments, and Mallory – when she realized no one was talking – looked over at Abby in uncertainty. Abby finally stepped around behind Kristi, and nudged her forward.

"Go talk to him," she said, raising an eyebrow. Kristi stumbled off her stool, and took a couple steps, before taking a breath, and looking back at Abby.

"Look…I know that it's painfully obvious he and I avoid each other at nearly all costs. But taking away that space between takes more than a drink and prodding from friends," she said, returning to her seat and sipping at her Fuel.

The following hour was rather uneasy for Kristi, who sat on one end of the group, and Tony, who sat on the other. However, it was fun for Tim, Abby, and Mallory, who had ordered a couple more drinks during that hour, and were talking and laughing.

Abby ordered one more drink, before turning around in her seat, and, narrowing her eyes, she smiled.

"McGee! Mallory! I challenge you two to a game of darts," she said, grabbing his right hand and her left, and dragging them off their chairs and over to the dartboard across the bar. As they reached the dartboard, Abby paused, and frowned. "Okay! You two wait here, I have to get the darts," she laughed, patting them on the shoulder and running back to the bar, where neither Tony nor Kristi had moved a muscle. Tim looked at Mallory, and ran a hand through his hair.

"Hey…uh…I wanted to ask you something, before she came back…are you busy Sunday?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Mallory looked at him, a little unsure.

"Not that I know of…I don't think Ducky has anything planned…."

"Would you like to have lunch with me?" he offered, smiling at her. She looked at him, and blushed a deep pink, before nodding her head. He blushed a similar shade, and nodded in response as Abby arrived, holding out a set of darts for Mallory and Tim.

"Okay! I'll be black, who wants blue and who wants red?"

Kristi glanced over her shoulder as the three laughed, and sighed, smiling a little.

"Looks like they're havin' a good night," she said, turning back and taking a sip of her drink. Tony glanced over.

"Any time with Abby is generally a good time…" he replied, nodding his head. Kristi hesitated, before picking up her drink, and standing, walking a few steps to sit in the seat next to him.

"…Hi Tony," she said softly, not looking at him, but instead, looking at her drink, and sliding it on top of the bar. He looked back at his own drink, but smiled.

"Hey, Kris," he replied. After a minute, he glanced over his shoulder at the three across the bar, laughing, sipping their drinks, and tossing darts at the checked board. Giving a light smile, Tony moved, sipping his drink, and staring ahead of him for another minute or so. Glancing at the bar, and tilting his head, he lifted his arm, and draped it across her shoulders. She didn't react right away, letting his arm rest on her shoulders as she took a couple drinks from her Fuel. As the glass emptied, and the bartender took it to refill it, she scooted a little in her seat, and leaned over, resting her head on his shoulder.


	5. Two in the Same Room

Abby aimed, the last dart in her fingers, before releasing it and watching it embed in the center of the dartboard. She jumped, clapping and cheering, as she jogged over to tug out all the darts.

"Woohoo! I win!" she exclaimed, spinning with her hands pumping over her head. Tim and Mallory, who were seated at the empty table across from the board, applauded, and stood to give her a hug. "Alright! Tim, it's your turn to buy," she said, pointing towards the bar, before her jaw dropped, and her eyes widened. "Tim! Mal! Look!" she hissed, pointing. They turned around, and widened their eyes, looking at each other.

Over at the bar, Kristi still sat with her head placed on Tony's shoulder, sliding her drink along the bar once again. His arm was still draped around her shoulder, and he sipped at his beer every couple of minutes. While Tim and Mallory stood and watched, surprised that putting the two in the same room together actually seemed to have worked, Abby bounded over to the bar to get a non-alcoholic drink, and change the darts for the cues to play pool. As she leaned against the bar, she looked at the two, and smiled, laying the darts in front of her.

"You know, Kristi…if you're tired…you're welcome to go. I had fun tonight with you – you don't have to stay if you don't want to." Kristi, having forgotten she was even at the bar, quickly jerked herself upright, looking back at Abby.

"What? Are you sure?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course! I'll see you at work Monday! You go home, get some sleep…check your email…whatever it is you do at home," Abby grinned, before hugging Kristi.

"Okay…Thanks, Abby," Kristi replied, patting her back before reaching into her pocket. "Let me buy you one more drink, kay?" she offered, tugging out some money and placing it in Abby's palm. "Whenever you're ready for it." She looked at Tony, before finishing off her drink, and paying for that, and crossing the bar to Mallory and Tim.

"You headin' home?" Mallory asked, attempting to hide the surprise she still felt. Smirking, Kristi nodded.

"Yes. And very nice, Tim," she said, pointing at him, before hugging Mallory, and then Tim.

"Nice…what? What're you talkin' about?"

"I saw the look that you and Abby gave each other when we got here. Nice plan, getting Tony and I into the same room. You have fun tonight. Remember…I do know how to find you," she smirked, before planting a kiss on his cheek. "Goodnight, you two," she said, turning, and giving the same goodnight to Abby. Returning to the bar, she took her change from the bartender, and looked at Tony. "…I…will see you at work, Tony…thank you, for the shoulder." She stood still for a moment, before placing a very light, yet lingering, kiss on his cheek, prior to turning, and walking out the door.

Abby watched the door shut behind Kristi as she walked into the darkness, before turning to look at McGee and Mallory, who had crossed to stand beside her. The three didn't say anything, not even when the bartender walked around the seats to hand them the pool cues, for several minutes, as Wanted Dead or Alive played from the jukebox. McGee, finally heaving a sigh, took his pool cue from Abby, passed by the two beside him, and swung the stick, cracking Tony in the back.

"Ow!" he exclaimed, jerking forward into the bar, before hopping from his seat and spinning around. "What was that for, Probie Wan Kenobi?" he asked, eyebrows raised. McGee, smirking, pointed the cue stick at the door.

"Go. After. Her. Or I _will_ Gibbs-slap you," McGee attempted to order. Tony eyed him, rubbing his back, before grabbing his jacket off the back of the seats and heading out the door.

"Wow…I didn't think you could actually talk him into going after her, McGee! Great job!" Abby exclaimed, as Mallory laughed, and clapped slightly. The door bounced back open, and Tony poked his head in.

"This has nothing to do with that so-called threat, Probalicious!" he hollered, shutting the door behind him as he disappeared. Mallory, still laughing, made her way to Abby, snatching her pool cue, and pointing it at the two.

"Come on, you two! We have a game of pool! Two against one, who wants to pair with who?" she asked, hopping up onto a chair next to the pool table. "Cause, you know, I am a master at the game of 8-ball…so I can take you both on," she grinned proudly. Abby glanced over at McGee, who cast a glance back at her, before they both jumped, and bounded to the pool table.

"You're on!" they both exclaimed, as Abby scrambled to get the balls racked on the table, and as Tim chalked the end of his cue and smirked.

"Me first!" he and Mallory announced, before looking at each other, and smirking. Tim extended his hand, motioning for Mallory. "Ladies' first, as always."

_**[PAGE BREAK]**_

Kristi paused near the end of the block, and turned back towards the bar when she heard Tony's voice calling back in to Tim. She paused, watching from under the broken street light, to see which way he was headed, before she moved a little further and stood just around the corner, where he couldn't see her. Kristi was never one to stand in the dark to surprise anyone, let alone someone she knew regularly carried a gun, and probably knew very well how to defend himself, but tonight, she thought it might be humorous – something she attributed to the drinks she'd had before leaving the bar.

Tony made his way in her direction, unaware that she'd gone that way, or that she was still just around the corner. He shook his head, swinging his jacket around and pulling it back on, snapping the collar down as he reached the corner. Most people would say they couldn't believe that Tim and Abby had plotted to get him and Kristi, a woman he hadn't seen in years but he'd thought of often, into a room together in a feeble attempt to put an end to the awkwardness. But then again, this was Tony – he'd done far worse for far less.

Her eyes followed him in the dark as he walked passed her, his own eyes cast down to follow his footsteps. With a small smile, Kristi slipped out of the shadow, and trailed behind him, as quietly as she was capable. Halfway down the block, Tony cocked his head slightly, hearing a second set of footsteps behind him, and began to slow his pace. After a few steps, he was at a near stop, and Kristi, who had been concentrating on trying to be quiet, walked right into him, and stumbled backwards, looking up at him in surprise. Tony spun on his heels, reaching for his gun which, as he realized when his fingers hit his hip, he had left in his desk before heading out with Tim. He sucked in a breath, and extended his hands.

"Kris? What're you doin'?" he asked, moving forward to catch her arm as she stumbled. She looked at him, and smiled sheepishly.

"Followin' you. That okay?" Kristi asked, raising an eyebrow as she walked around him, and put her hand on his elbow. Tony glanced down, and smirked a little, before turning and following her down the sidewalk.

"I suppose it's alright," Tony replied, that smirk still on his lips. Kristi moved her hand, stuffing both of her hands into her pockets as they walked. "So is drinking the key to getting you to act like I'm alive? Or did drinking just unlock that door in your head?" he asked, reaching up to tap on her temple. Kristi jerked a little, turning to see him.

"Eeeh, a little of column A, a little of column B." She looked at him as they walked, before smiling. "You know...last time I checked – which was, like, last week, when I was going through your file, shh, I never said that," she giggled, "your apartment was around here." Tony looked at her, raising an eyebrow, before smirking.

"I see the girl I used to know hasn't completely disappeared," he answered, hooking his arm across her shoulders. They walked together a couple more blocks, before he led her up the steps to his place, locking the door behind him as she clicked on the light.

Tony kicked off his shoes, hanging his jacket across the back of the chair as Kristi tossed her jacket over his. She paused, leaning against the door, to tug her own shoes off, and made her way down the hallway.

"Just like I remember!" she called over her shoulder, pulling her hair out of the ponytail it had been in since after her shower before work. Tony watched her from the end of the hall, near the front door, and smiled, shaking his head to follow her.

"Sort of. New bed, new pillow…got the bathroom fixed up." Tony shrugged, and made his way into the bedroom. He stopped, head tilted, somewhat wide-eyed, when he saw that Kristi was sitting on his bed, her blouse tossed over the nightstand beside the bed. "Did I miss something?" he asked, walking in and standing beside the bed. Kristi stood, and moved next to him, looking him over for a moment before leaning up to kiss his cheek.

"I don't believe so," she said, her voice very soft. Tony watched her, as she placed her hands on his sides, and leaned up again. "But…I did miss you, Tony," she added, as she pressed her lips against his. Without thinking about it, Tony wrapped his arms around her shoulders, holding her to him as she unbuttoned his shirt, and wrapped her own hands around his waist.

_**[PAGE BREAK]**_

Empty glasses, small puddles of drinks, and multiple bottles – empty and not – littered the table behind the pool table. Blue dust was sprinkled along the four sides of the pool table, as Abby lined up another shot, and pushed her stick, knocking the cue ball into the 8, across the table, and into the corner pocket.

"Yeah!" she hollered, as the ball disappeared, and hopped a couple times, her thick black boots thumping against the floor. "Abby and McGee, three! We win again!" Mallory, snickering, reached for the cue ball.

"You forget! I won three, too," she replied, reaching down and getting the balls. She looked up at them. "One more? To decide the real winner?" she tempted, holding the cue ball up. McGee, who was leaning against the littered table nearby, shrugged as he looked at Abby.

"I'm up for it if you are," he said, pushing his fingers through his hair. Abby looked at him, then Mallory, and then at the clock, before grinning.

"Bring it on!"

_**[PAGE BREAK]**_

The sun peeked in through the curtains, lighting up patches of the carpet, the nightstand, the bed. Kristi grumbled a little, burying her face into the pillow before tugging the blanket up to cover her eyes. She lay still for a moment, listening to her breathing, until she realized she couldn't just fall back to sleep. Sighing, Kristi pushed the blanket down, and rolled back onto her side, looking at the wall with tired, droopy eyes. She looked at the white wall, the chair in the corner, the table in the opposite corner with the television on top. Just as suddenly as the sun woke her, Kristi propped herself up on her elbow, confused – her room looked nothing like this. Glancing down, in an attempt to think, she saw two things that startled her enough to send her to the floor: not only was she completely unclothed, she also saw a third arm stretched across the bed beneath her.

Looking up from her place on the floor, Kristi gulped down the lump in her throat, and scrambled to her feet, looking around the floor for her pants, and her shirt. Tony, still fast asleep, rolled away from her, and tugged his blanket over his shoulder. Biting down on her lip, Kristi hesitated at the foot of the bed, wearing her jeans, but holding her shirt in her hands. She watched him sleep – something she hadn't seen in a very long time – before she shook her head.

"I am so sorry Tony," she whispered, mostly to herself since she was aware he was sleeping, before tugging on her shirt. Placing a light kiss on his forehead, Kristi tugged her shoes and socks on, and made her way out of his apartment, hightailing it back to her own.

As the light grew, and lit up the rest of Tony's bedroom, he grumbled, and rolled over towards the now-empty side of the bed. His hand rubbed the mattress for a moment, before opening one eye, and sighing.

"Alone…" he muttered, before rolling onto his back and running his hands down his face. "Well…at least it was a really good dream." A smirk formed on his lips as he climbed off the bed, letting his blanket fall to his feet. Dragging his fingers through his hair, Tony shuffled across the floor, and picked up his boxers from the foot of the bed, where'd they been left the night before. He turned, glancing at the clock, and groaned. "Dang it…Late for football," he grumbled, shaking his head as he started for the door.

Partway there, Tony stopped, his eyebrows knitted together, and an incredibly confused look on his face. He stood still for a few seconds, wiggling his toes against the strange item he'd stepped on, not sure if he wanted to look down. When he realized what the item felt like, he looked down, and widened his eyes, before smirking. Tony took a step back, lifting the item off the floor, and held it up in front of him.

"I…guess it wasn't a dream," he smirked, looking at Kristi's bra.


	6. First Dates and A Big Surprise

The front porch light was on, waiting for the guest to arrive and come to the door. Mallory scurried between her bedroom and the bathroom, every step causing Ducky to stop cleaning up in the kitchen only to look up at the ceiling, and smile, shaking his head. After several more trips than he thought would be necessary, Ducky dried his hands, and walked to the steps.

"Sweetheart?" he called up, making her stop, and poke her head around the corner curiously. "If you keep running around like that, you'll wear a hole into the floor –and I don't know that you'll feel safe at night with a giant hole in the hallway." She blushed, before ducking back out of sight.

"I'm just nervous!" she called, it extremely evident in her voice. Ducky made his way to the top of the steps, standing outside her door but not looking inside her room.

"You have nothing to be nervous about, dear. Timothy is a charming young man, and incredibly polite with the opposite sex," he told her, with a smile in his voice.

Mallory was silent vocally inside the room, but she was still rushing from one side of the floor to the other. Ducky gave her a moment to get herself together, and waited for the pacing to stop. Mallory, hesitantly, stepped out of her room, dressed in well-fitting black jeans and a green halter top covered with a denim jacket. He turned his head, and smiled, standing up and placing his hands on her arms.

"You look wonderful, dear," he said, leaning up to kiss her on the cheek. Mallory smiled, and hugged him, sighing.

"I'm panicky, Uncle DD. I think I really like Tim," she admitted sheepishly. Ducky gave a chuckle, shaking his head.

"Don't be panicky, dear – it will be fine," he replied, as the doorbell rang and echoed through the house. Mallory squealed, jumping away from Ducky and diving into her room. Laughing, he poked his head in. "Come out of there – I'm going to go let him in," he said, making his way down the steps and opening the door.

"Hey, Ducky…"

"Evening, Timothy. She's finishing getting ready, so…come on in," Ducky said, waiting for Tim to walk in before closing the door behind him. Tim looked around, and nodded.

"Okay…Uh…this is okay, right Ducky? I mean…taking Mallory out?" Ducky, with a smile, nodded his head.

"Of course it's okay, Timothy. I know you are a polite young man, well mannered. Just remember…I can have Abby work in my favor, too," he smiled, patting Tim on the shoulder before heading to the bottom of the steps. Tim raised an eyebrow.

"You know I wouldn't do anything to hurt you, Ducky, or her…wow…" Ducky looked at him, uncertain, before turning and chuckling slightly, as Mallory came down the steps. She smiled at Ducky, before looking at Tim, shyly, and smiling.

"Hey, Tim."

"Hey…Mallory…you look great," he said, blushing and smiling up at her. Ducky stopped Mallory at the bottom of the steps, and embraced her, before patting her shoulder.

"Go on, and have fun. Just don't make too much noise when you return," he smiled, shooing the two out the front door. Tim moved, hooking his hand around Mallory's arm, as he led her out the door and down the front steps.

"So…uh…I was thinking…dinner, and, if you are interested, jazz?" he asked, looking at her. Mallory smiled brightly, and looked at Tim.

"Jazz? I love jazz. That sounds great," she said, as he opened the passenger door of his Porsche Boxster.

"Ladies first," he said, guiding her into the passenger seat before closing the door and moving around, and climbing in. "Dinner. Then jazz. You'll love this place," he promised, as he buckled in and squealed out of the driveway.

_**[PAGE BREAK]**_

Dinner was over. Tim pulled up in the lot next to a large building downtown that looked – from the side – like it was abandoned. Mallory gulped, looking around, before looking back at him.

"Is…this the jazz club?" she asked, uncertain. Tim glanced at her, then at the building, and smiled.

"Yeah. Promise – it is actually much better than it looks from here," he said, shutting off the car, and helping her out before locking it. Mallory slipped her hand into his, looking around them uneasily, as he led her towards the sidewalk and the front of the building. Tim glanced down, and smiled, blushing a little before stepping up front to show her the sign over the door. "The Crime Scene Jazz Bar. It is run by a retired NCIS agent named Carl – great man, old friend of Gibbs," he said, opening the door and, still holding her hand, led her inside. Mallory paused, her eyes passing over everything inside the Jazz Bar, before grinning.

"Wow. This place is amazing," she said, just as the musicians on stage began to play. "I love jazz!" she said to him, turning and wrapping her arms around his shoulders in a hug. "Thank you, Tim!"

"Don't mention it! I like it too!" he replied over the music as he returned the hug. He took her up to the bar, greeting Carl before ordering a drink for himself and one for Mallory.

They crossed the bar with their drinks, and took a couple of seats near the band. As Tim took his seat beside her, and laid his hand on the table to tap out the beat, Mallory, with a small smile on her face, reached out, and laid her hand over his, giving it a squeeze. Tim shot a quick glance at their hands, then her, before he returned the smile, and closed his fingers around hers.

"Thank you…for coming out with me tonight, Mallory," he called to her over the music. She tilted her head to see him, and leaned over, pressing a light kiss on his cheek.

"Thank you for asking me to," she replied, resting her head on his shoulder as they listened to the band play.

As the night wrapped up, and the Bar cleared out, Tim helped Mallory back into the car, and drove her back home, playing a jazz CD along the way. With his hand extended the whole ride on the gear shift, Mallory took the opportunity, only a few blocks from the Crime Scene, to place her hand over his, in an attempt to hold it again. When Tim pulled the car to the line at the first stoplight they came to, he moved their hands, putting hers on the gear, and laying his on top of it. The smile on his face brought a smile to her face, as they drove through town back to Ducky's place.

He pulled up, and put the car in park, shutting off the lights as he and Mallory climbed out of their seats. Tim placed his hand lightly on her back, helping her up the steps.

"I had a great time, Tim," she said, holding his hand once again as they stood at the door. The house was completely darkened, save for the porch light over their heads, and Mallory spoke her a hushed tone. Tim smiled, and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a gentle embrace.

"I did too, Mallory. Thank you." She stood, hugging him for a minute, before pulling away, and unlocking the door.

"I guess…I will see you Monday?" she asked, smiling at him. Tim nodded his head, smiling at her.

"Yes, of course," he replied, giving her another hug. The two stood at the door for a moment, in silence, looking at each other, unsure of what to say. Tim, finally gulping, put a hand on her shoulder, and leaned in, placing a gentle and quick kiss on Mallory's lips. She blushed a deep crimson, her whole face burning, as he pulled away, and the two smiled shyly at each other. "…G-Good night, Mallory," he said, giving her a quick hug before she made her way in the front door. He turned, smiling proudly, before hopping down the steps, and back into his car. Mallory, as the door shut, gave a dreamy sigh before locking the door and turning off the light.

_**[PAGE BREAK]**_

As Monday morning arrived, Tony exited the elevator, his bag slung over his shoulder, and a small paper bag bunched in his hand. Ziva sat at her desk, her back to him, but Tim's desk and Gibb's desk were still empty. Smirking a little, Tony ducked down at Kristi's desk, shoving the bag and a small note into her drawer, before shutting it, and hopping back around, moving to his desk.

"Mornin', Ziva," he said, tossing his bag onto the cabinet behind his desk. She peered up, before returning her attention to her screen.

"Good morning, Tony. Have you seen McGee yet?" she asked, raising an eyebrow but not looking back up. Tony, with a smirk, shook his head.

"Not today. Talked to him yesterday, though…" he said, as the elevator opened, and Tim walked out, running a hand through his hair.

"Good morning, Tony, Ziva," he said, passing between them and taking a seat at his desk.

"You look exhausted, McGee. Did you have a rough weekend?" she asked, lowering her hands from the keyboard to look at him.

"McGee just fell in love this weekend, at The Crime Scene," Tony interjected, nodding his head as he opened up his own email. Ziva turned her head, the confusion apparent on her face.

"What crime scene?"

"The Crime Scene," Tony told her, shrugging as if she should know. She frowned.

"If there was a crime scene, why was I not called?" Tony and Tim looked at each other, then her.

"No, not _a_ crime scene, _The_ Crime Scene," Tim said, shaking his head.

"Right! What crime scene? I didn't know there _was_ a crime scene this weekend!"

"No, Ziva…it's _called_ The Crime Scene," Tony replied, raising an eyebrow.

"I know what it is called, Tony, I just do not know why I was not informed there was a cri-"

"He's talking about a Jazz Bar, Ziva," came Gibbs voice as he tossed his jacket over the back of his chair. Ziva looked between them, and Tim walked over, opening the webpage for The Crime Scene Jazz Bar. She read it for a second, before nodding in semi-understanding.

The elevator dinged, and the doors slid open, as Kristi slowly walked into the hall. Looking around to see who was there, she made her way to her desk, and sat down, opening the bottom drawer to place her purse inside. The paper bag made her stop, and stare, confused, until she saw the note attached. Hesitantly, she opened the card, and felt her face go red when she saw what Tony wrote: _Found this on the floor. Thought you'd like it back. –T_. Kristi carefully peeked inside the bag, instantly shutting it and shoving it into her bag, before looking over the wall at the team. Tony hadn't realized she was even there, his attention fixed on the computer monitor in front of him. Silently thankful, Kristi closed her drawer, and turned on her computer, her face a rosy pink from embarrassment.

_**[PAGE BREAK]**_

As the day came to a close, Tony turned off his desk lamp, pressing the Power button on the computer screen before standing, and peering over Ziva's desk, only to see that Kristi's desk was already dark, her things gone. Raising an eyebrow, he glanced at Tim, who had shut his things off and was walking passed Tony towards the elevator.

"Hey…where's Kristi?" he asked, motioning to the desk as he grabbed his things and followed Tim. Without missing a beat, Tim shook his head.

"She left, earlier this afternoon. Didn't you see her go?" Tony frowned, but shook his head, climbing into the elevator as the doors opened.

"No…was she sick?"

"I don't think so…I thought I heard her mention something about babysitting, or…something. I don't know." Tony knitted his eyebrows together in pure confusion, but didn't ask, as the doors closed on them.

He climbed out of his car, leaning against it as he looked up at the only lit window near the top. For a moment, Tony debated getting back into the car and driving back to his own place. But when he saw movement inside, he couldn't turn back. Tony pushed the door shut, pressing the button to lock his car as he jogged up inside. As he climbed into the elevator, he silently hoped Kristi wouldn't ask how he found her address – he didn't want to explain that he went back into work and found her file to come see her.

The volume of the TV was loud enough for Tony to hear, very faintly, as he stepped off the elevator, that Kristi was, at least, playing _Toy Story_. Unable to help but smile, Tony paused at the door, and took a breath, rapping his knuckles against the wood. From inside, he heard her call out.

"Hang on a second! …Oh, come on, kiddo, just go watch the movie, okay? Please?" she asked, before she moved for the door. Tony, raising an eyebrow, shoved his hands into his pockets and waited. After a minute, the lock clanked against the door, and the knob turned, before Kristi's face appeared between the door and the frame. "Hello…Tony?" she asked, opening the door all the way, and cocking her head, in confusion. He smiled.

"Hey! I was just in the neighborhood…thought I'd make sure things were okay. McGee said you left early today…" he said, raising an eyebrow as he caught sight of several children's toys scattered across the floor behind her.

"Yeah…Yeah, I'm fine…I just…had to fill in for a friend, but telling NCIS that doesn't go so well," she said, shrugging slightly as she leaned one hand against the doorframe, and ran the other through her hair. Tony nodded, before shrugging a little himself, and looking back up her. As he opened his mouth, to speak again, a pair of feet came thumping across the floor, and a chestnut-haired, bright-blue eyed little boy came into view, grasping at Kristi's leg. She looked down, startled, before moving her free hand to rustle his hair.

"What's goin' on?" the little boy asked, looking up at her. She smiled, and brushed his hair out of his eyes.

"Nothin', sweetie…Go on back to the movie," she said, pointing back towards the TV. He nodded, and grinned.

"Okay, mommy!" he exclaimed, before taking off back towards the TV. Tony looked up at Kristi, his eyes wide, and his jaw practically on the floor.

"…_Mommy_?"


	7. You Could Even Say I'm Ninja

The TV was shut off, the only lights in the apartment coming from the small lamp by the couch. A faint lullaby drifted through the closed door at the end of the hallway, as Kristi entered the living room and sat on the couch beside Tony, handing him his drink as she sipped her wine.

"So…do you plan to fill me in? Or am I supposed to play twenty questions and guess?" he asked, sipping his drink before setting it on the table. Kristi chuckled lightly, but crossed her legs, and leaned against her thigh, thinking.

"I can…fill you in. But, be patient – I haven't really planned on this conversation," she sheepishly admitted. He chuckled, but nodded, leaning back on his side of the couch to look at her while she composed herself. "His name is Noah. And…yes, he is my son, all the way. Before you say it, I know, I don't look like I carried him myself – I heard it from several people since he was born." She paused, glancing at Tony. "Noah is nine years old," she said, before he could speak, but instead of him nodding, Tony gave a partial nod, and his face twisted into confusion as he considered that.

"Nine? So…that would mean, he was conceived…" He paused, rolling his eyes upwards as he attempted to think backwards. Kristi reached over, and patted his hand.

"He was conceived two months before you left the Baltimore PD…right around the week before dad was killed," she said, her voice soft, with a hint of venom. He hesitated, before sitting up a little to look at her.

"Wait…wait…Kris…is…he….?" Kristi nodded.

"Yeah, Tony. You actually have someone to carry on your namesake," Kristi said, moving into her kitchen for a second, before returning with a report card that had been stuck to the fridge. Tony glanced up at her, then took the card, and looked it over, before his eyes widened a little, and a small chuckle passed his lips.

"Noah DiNozzo…You serious?" he asked, clearly surprised, by more than the fact that his last name was DiNozzo.

Kristi leaned back on the couch, keeping her wine glass to her lips as she held a steady sip for a few seconds. When she lowered the glass to her other hand, she sighed, but nodded.

"I am serious."

"But you _hated_ me after what happene-" She reached over, putting a finger over his lips.

"I didn't _hate_ you. I hated everything. I _wanted_ to hate you, but…it didn't work. I know it wasn't your fault he got shot – and I knew it then, but I wanted to blame someone, and…unfortunately…you were right there." Tony looked at Kris for a minute, before putting his drink, and the card, down on the coffee table. For a moment, as neither of them spoke a word, Tony wrapped his arms around Kris and pulled her onto his side of the couch in an embrace. She curled up against him, her head on his chest, and draped her arm across his waist, as they sat in the quiet of her darkened living room.

_**[PAGE BREAK]**_

"Mallory!" The voice sounded from the first floor. She laid still on her bed, blinking slowly at the ceiling as she tried to wake herself up. There was silence that followed, before footsteps sounded on the stairs, and a knock came to the door. "Mallory? Are you awake?" She rolled onto her side, and sat up, running her hands through her hair.

"I am now, Uncle DD…" she said, forcing the yawn back until 'DD' passed her lips. With a smile and a chuckle, Ducky carefully opened her door and peered in. She sat on the edge of the bed, her hair a mess around her face, in her dark blue pajamas that he had bought her after her arrival.

"Did you want to come with me to NCIS this morning, or had you planned to come later?" Ducky asked, keeping a hand on the doorknob as he watched her stand and move for her dresser.

"It depends…on how long you can wait before leaving?" she asked, with a silly, tired smile.

"Go ahead and get dressed, dear, I'll meet you downstairs with some coffee," he said, closing the door behind him as he made his way back down. She giggled, and quickly changed out of her pajamas, into a pair of light, studded blue jeans, a black designed top that looked like something Abby would wear, and her black and pink Converse. Mallory paused as she looked at herself in the mirror, and blushed, but shook her head.

Since she had arrived in Washington to be with Ducky, and since she had met Abby, Mallory's style had seemed to change a bit. Before, she wore only light colored clothes, with fun designs, or brand names printed on them. She had never own a Converse shoe, or any article of clothing with a skull or crossbones on it – in fact, aside from a couple of black shirts she'd once bought for a job that she kept in her daily wardrobe, and one pair of black slacks, Mallory didn't own anything black. Now, though, she meshed her former style with that of Abby's, and found a new interest in Converse shoes – in the past two weeks, she'd bought three pairs that she promised to make sure to wear at some time each week.

Grabbing her camera bag, Mallory bounded down the steps, and tugged on the NCIS cap Ducky had gotten for her.

"I'm ready!" she called, just as Ducky exited the kitchen with a thermos.

"I somewhat assumed that, from the speed at which you came down the steps. Here you go, dear. Have everything?" he asked, pulling on his hat and coat as he opened the door. Mallory paused, glancing up at the brim of her hat, then at her coffee and camera bag, before nodding and grinning.

"Yep!" Smiling, Ducky let her lead onto the porch, locking the door behind him as they headed towards the Morgan.

Ducky made his way to autopsy upon arrival, but Mallory, instead of going right down to Abby's lab, as she normally did, moved instead to Tim's desk, placing her bag down and claiming his chair. She couldn't help but smile, and bop her head from one side to the other, playing as though she were Tim. Mallory pretended to type, and hummed to herself as she did, until she heard the elevator ding. Jumping from the chair, she grabbed her coffee, and leaned against the side, whistling innocently as Ziva and Tim started towards their desks.

"It looks like you have a visitor, McGee," she said, smiling at him, before waving at Mallory. "Good morning, Mallory."

"Morning, Ziva," she said, before smiling at Tim. "Morning, Tim."

"Hey, Mallory…what're you doing up here? I thought you normally were downstairs with Abby." Mallory shrugged, and sipped her coffee.

"Normally, I am. Today I felt like coming up and saying good morning," she admitted, blushing. Tim glanced around, glad Ziva had her head down to try and undo her jacket's buckle, before leaning over and kissing Mallory's cheek.

"Well, good morning," he smiled, before setting down his things and sitting in his chair. He opened his mouth, to speak again, but stopped, and widened his eyes as he tilted his head. Mallory, uncertain, turned around to see what caught his eye, and stopped as well. Behind them, Tony and Kristi were climbing off the elevator, Kristi holding the hand of a young boy.

"Who's that?" she asked, as Tim stood up.

"I…don't know. It _sort of_ looks like…nah…that couldn't be," he says, as he and Mallory both shook their heads.

Tony stepped off the elevator with Kristi and Noah, before looking at her and smiling.

"I'll see you later," he spoke gently, giving her arm a squeeze. She smiled, and nodded, leading Noah to her desk to put her things down before leading him towards the stairs behind Tony's and Tim's desks. As Tony sat at his desk, and put his stuff down, he turned to meet the confused but curious stares of Tim and Mallory. "…can I help you two?"

"Who's that?" Mallory asked, motioning. Tony smirked, logging into his computer.

"Kristi. Duh." Both rolled their eyes, and from Ziva's desk came a wadded ball of paper that smacked Tony in the temple.

"They meant the little boy, Tony," she said, raising an eyebrow as he tossed the ball into the trash.

"His name is Noah," he said simply, shrugging his shoulders and standing up. "Who wants coffee?" he asked, but walked away before they could answer.

Tim sat for a moment, watching Tony climb back into the elevator, before dropping into his desk and typing rather furiously. Mallory paused, watching the elevator doors and sipping from her coffee, before spinning and putting her cup on the desk, moving to lean over Tim's shoulder to see what he was doing. Neither of them said a word, despite the curious stare from Ziva's desk, for a few moments before Tim jumped up and hit the clicker button, bringing up the images from his monitor onto the plasma.

"McGee? What did you do?" Ziva asked, pushing herself away from her desk and out of her chair to move closer to the screen.

"I brought up Tony's file and Kristi's file – I want to know who that was…" he said, hitting the button a couple of times. Ziva, Tim, and Mallory stood side-by-side, looking at the information passing across the screen. After a moment, Ziva snatched the control from Tim, hitting the button once and pointing.

"It seems as though that he is Kristi's son," she said, handing him the control again.

"She never mentioned a son," Mallory replied, frowning, as she placed her hands on her hips. Tim and Ziva looked at the dates in her file, before glancing at those on Tony's file, before looking at each other, and then Mallory.

"Look at the dates," Tim pointed out, as Mallory leaned forward for a moment to read them, and think. All three quickly looked at each other, then the files.

"It couldn't be…"

"What couldn't, McGee?" Gibbs asked, rounding the corner and placing his coffee on his desk. Tim hit the button on the control, turning around as Ziva quickly sat down, and Mallory picked up her things.

"Nothing, boss." Gibbs looked over, and pointed at the screen.

"Put it back up there." Tim hesitated, but did as he was told. For a second, Gibbs stared at the images of Tony and Kristi and their files, before nodding, and taking his seat at his desk. "They make a cute kid," he said nonchalantly, opening the file that lay on his desk. The three looked at each other, before Mallory poked Tim in the ribs, nodding towards the steps where Kristi and Noah were heading back down towards them. He jumped slightly, hitting the button to change the image on the screen before going to his computer and removing the images altogether.

Kristi stopped by Ziva's desk, looking over at Mallory and Tim, who were glancing in her direction but not openly turning to face her.

"Good morning, Agents McGee, David," Kristi smiled. "Agent Gibbs. Mallory."

"Good morning, Agent Reis," Gibbs spoke over his computer, without looking up.

"Morning, Kristi," Ziva replied, before standing from her seat once again. "Who is this little guy?" Kristi glanced down at Noah, who leaned into her a little and looked at Ziva, uncertainly.

"This is my son, Noah. Sweetheart, these are my friends. This is Ziva," she said, and Noah smiled – only once the word _friend_ came from Kristi's mouth – up at Ziva, and reached out his hand, just as he'd been taught, to shake hers. Kristi waited a moment, smiling at Ziva, before leading him across the floor. "Over here is Tim and Mallory," she said, as Noah shook their hands, letting go of his mother's to shake both at the same time.

"Nice to meet you, Noah," Tim said, smiling as he let go of his hand.

"Hi, Tim," he said, grinning. Mallory quickly moved, pulling out her camera.

"Can I take your picture, Noah? Would that be alright?" she asked, looking between him and Kristi. Kristi nodded to both Mallory and Noah, as Noah gave her a grin wide enough to make him close his eyes. Giggling, Mallory snapped multiple shots, kneeling on the carpeting to get a better shot.

"I suppose I should have mentioned he's quite a ham for the camera," Kristi mentioned, laughing lightly. "I have boxes upon boxes of pictures of him – he just loves that lens." Mallory glanced up, snapping another shot.

"I have no problems with that. I love people who love the camera – I do believe me and this little guy can get along rather well," she replied, snapping another shot of Noah before tilting the camera and snapping one of Kristi, then Tim, before returning to take a couple more of Noah.

Gibbs leaned forward in his chair, watching for a moment, before digging into his desk drawers. Glancing over, Kristi reached out, rustling her son's hair.

"Hey…one more friend to introduce you to up here before we head to find Abby and Dr. Mallard," she said, smiling as he turned around to look at her.

"Yeah?" he asked, excitement evident in his voice. She nodded towards Gibbs, smirking.

"Yeah. This is Special Agent Gibbs," she said, giving his shoulders a squeeze as she turned him slightly. Mallory stood up, and took a step back to stand by Tim, smiling a little as she glanced at him. Gibbs stood, and moved around his desk.

"Hey, little man," he said, holding out a hand to catch Noah's. Instead of reaching to shake, as he had before, Noah extending his hand and slapped Gibbs' palm, grinning. Chuckling, Gibbs leaned against his desk, and bent down. "You can just call me Gibbs," he added, as his fingers moved and fumbled slightly against the collar of Noah's shirt.

"Hiya, Gibbs! I'm Noah – whatcha doin?" he asked, craning his head to see Gibbs' hands. Raising an eyebrow, Kristi took a step closer to see for herself, as Gibbs moved his hands away, revealing a small, shiny gold badge pin he'd clipped into Noah's shirt.

"Makin' you an honorary NCIS Agent. It looks like your mom's badge, only…smaller," he replied, with a smile. Noah's eyes widened a little, and he looked down at the badge pinned on his shirt.

"Really?" he asked, grinning. Kristi moved her jacket, showing her badge to Noah.

"Really, kiddo." Gibbs opened his mouth, to add on, but as his phone rang, he sighed, and turned. "Gibbs…I'll be right up." He put the phone back on the hook, and turned around. "Stay safe," he said, rustling Noah's hair as he walked around him towards the steps. Kristi turned her head, and watched Gibbs head up the steps and enter MTAC, before looking back at Noah, and smiling.

"You ready to keep going?" she asked, reaching for his hand. "Agent Noah?" she asked, and as he grinned and nodded excitedly, Kristi waved at Tim and Mallory, and headed off to find Abby.

Tim watched them walk away, before chuckling, and looking back at Mallory.

"Tell me you got a picture of Gibbs pinning that on his shirt." Mallory smirked, and turned the display of her camera towards him.

"I'm incredibly sneaky. You can even say I'm ninja," she giggled, wiggling a little as Tim leaned over, hooking an arm around her in an embrace before kissing her temple.


	8. Vanishing Act

Mallory made her way down the steps, setting her camera bag down along the wall as she strolled through the doorway into the kitchen. She paused, and grinned, raising an eyebrow.

"Good morning, dear," Ducky said from his place by the fridge, as he peered at her over his shoulder with a smile.

"Good morning, Uncle DD…Morning, Tim," she added, unable to resist giggling. Tim looked up from where he sat at the table, the spoon halfway between his mouth and the bowl, before blinking a few times, and smiling.

"Morning, Mallory!" She crossed the floor, placing a light kiss on Ducky's cheek, before reaching around him for a coffee cup.

"Isn't it a little early to take me out?" she asked, eyebrow still quirked. As Tim's face became a light pink, Ducky chuckled, and returned the light kiss to Mallory's cheek.

"He stopped by for coffee – I told him before we left last night you were going to be working this morning." Mallory nodded, and took a seat next to Tim at the table as she sipped her still steaming coffee.

"Yeah…I need to get some pictures taken, or else Mallory won't be making any money this month," she said, pointing at herself and shaking her head. "I've been crazy-lazy the past few weeks – any pictures I've taken, I can't opt for money. They aren't 'publishable material'," she grumbled, using one hand to signal air quotes as she spoke.

Tim moved a little, hooking his arm around her shoulders, as Ducky came up behind her and planted a light peck on the top of her head.

"You'll do fine, dear. I've seen what you can do – this morning will be plenty of time. And if not…once I get back this afternoon from visiting Mother, we'll go for a drive so you can get pictures elsewhere." A smile pulled at the corners of Mallory's lips as she turned to see Ducky.

"Really?" He smiled, and nodded, shrugging his coat over his shoulders.

"Really. I have to get going – you know how she gets if I'm late," he said, as Mallory nodded and chuckled, "but I will see you once I get back. Be careful," he added, before kissing her one last time and heading out the door.

Tim looked at Mallory, and smiled, giving her a squeeze, as he finished the last bite of cereal in his bowl.

"Where do you plan to go for shots, Mall?" he asked, standing and moving to the sink to clean his bowl. She shrugged, leaning back in her chair, and sipped her coffee for a moment, before turning to see him.

"I'm not sure. I'll probably catch a bus for a little bit, so I can take pictures of something different. But, I'll make sure I know where I'm going, so I know how to get back," she laughed, nodding. One thing Mallory prided herself on was the fact that she only had to learn directions once to know how to get there again and again. With a chuckle, Tim nodded.

"Always a good idea," he replied, sitting back down.

The two sat in the kitchen, her sipping her coffee, and him resting his head on her shoulder, not saying anything for a moment, before she patted his head.

"Hey, Tim…do you want to come with me this morning?" she asked, hopefully. He lifted his head to look at her, before carefully shaking his head.

"I mean, I do. But I can't. I promised Abby I'd help her with some…..Habitat for Humanity thing this morning," he replied, standing as Mallory took her now empty cup to the sink.

"Habitat for Humanity? That sounds like it will be interesting. I'm sorry I'm going to miss that."

"Me too…Hey…after you finish shooting today, do you want to come by? You can get pictures of us all working. Maybe those will be publishable," he offered, as they headed to the living room so she could put her shoes on. Mallory flopped down on the sofa, and looked up at Tim, pulling on her sneakers.

"I think I will come by. Where's it at?"

Tim moved back to the kitchen, digging a small notebook and pen from his pocket. After a minute, he returned to Mallory, handing her the folded slip.

"There you go. Just give me a call when you're on your way, so I know to be expecting you," he smiled, as she pocketed the paper and grabbed her camera bag.

"Will do. You have fun, Tim. I'll see you in a little while," she said, giving him a hug at the door. "I have to go up and grab more film," she said, pointing to the steps behind her. He smiled, and kissed her gently, blushing before heading down the front steps and getting back in his car. Laughing softly, Mallory shut the door, and made her way back up to her room for her film.

_**[PAGE BREAK]**_

Noah's head bopped to the music that played in the car. He didn't know the words, but he knew the tune well enough to simply sing out the notes from the backseat. It was impossible for Kristi to not smile as she watched him in the rearview mirror from her place at the stoplight.

"Havin' fun, baby?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. He smiled at her, but didn't take a break from bopping and singing. Shaking her head slightly, Kristi waited until the song ended to turn the volume knob, lowering the sound of the radio.

"Whatcha doin, mom?" he asked, cocking his head.

"We're almost there – I'll turn it back up after we pick him up." Noah, content with that answer, resumed his head bopping to the beat of the music he could barely hear.

Turning the wheel, Kristi pulled up in front of Tony's building, and put the car in park, hearing the locks on the door snap open as they always did when she parked the car. Reaching down, she turned the radio up a little, just enough for Noah to hear it, before rolling down her window, and looking out as Tony exited the door.

"Come on, Tony! You're always late!" she called playfully. He laughed, but shook his head, starting down the walk.

"I am not! I-…aw, crap."

"What?"

"I forgot my wallet! Hang on, I'll be right back," he called sheepishly, patting down his pockets as he jogged back into the building. Kristi, laughing, glanced over her shoulder.

"He is an incredibly silly man," she said, with a rather serious face, before smiling as Noah laughed.

As Kristi turned forward, a man a little older than her appeared at her window, with a rather kind look about him. Kristi jumped, but turned to look at him, surprised.

"Can I help you?"

"I think you're driver's side brake light is out," he said, pointing towards the back of the car. "I didn't mean to scare you," he added, " but that's my car behind you, and I only noticed one of your lights actually lit…thought you'd like to know." Kristi nodded slowly.

"Um…thank you. I'll get that checked out," she said, moving her left hand towards the buttons on her door. The man shot his hand just inside the door, gripping her wrist, and shaking his head.

"_Maybe_ you should check it out right now," he said, his eyes narrowing as he stared at Kristi.

_**[PAGE BREAK]**_

Tony bounced down the steps, and moved outside, turning to make sure the front door shut behind him.

"Alright, Kris! I am re-…Kris?" he called, stopping only a few steps down the walk. Her car was still parked, just in front of the house, but neither she nor Noah were inside, and the driver's door was hanging open.

Looking around, Tony jogged towards the car, and peered inside, gulping at the sight of Kristi's gun on the passenger seat. He shoved his hand into his pocket, yanking out his phone and dialing her number. It rang twice, before it picked up.

"Kris? Kris, where are you?" he asked quickly, moving around the car to see the rear passenger door open, and Noah's honorary badge from Gibbs laying in the road. Tony stopped, and listened for a moment. "Kris?"

"Hey! Gimme that!" a voice sounded from the other end, before Tony heard the wind hitting the speaker on the phone, a rumble, and silence. He paled, and looked at his phone, before quickly calling to NCIS, forgetting, for the moment, that it was Saturday, and only the Director would be there to help.

_**[PAGE BREAK]**_

Gibbs shut his front door, clicking the lock as he made his way towards the basement door. He gripped the brown bags tighter in his hands, hoisting them up and balancing them between his body and the wall as he reached to turn the knob and open the door, but frowned when the door just pushed open – it had not been latched. Raising an eyebrow, he carefully put the bags down in the hall, and moved back towards the living room for his gun.

Returning to the basement door, Gibbs peered around the doorway, seeing the only light coming through the window. Taking a breath, he hit the light, and quietly stepped onto the landing, before proceeding down the steps, gun aimed, back to the wall. He could hear breathing in the room, and let his eyes quickly move back and forth to try and find the source. As he stepped away from the wall, peering around the steps to see more of his basement, Gibbs stopped, seeing the source of the breathing. He didn't stay still long, moving and putting his gun on the workbench before he moved for his boat in the center of the room.

"…Noah?" he asked, crouching down. The little boy sat, curled up, inside the frame of Gibbs' boat, but at the sound of his name, he lifted his head, his shaggy brown hair almost to his frightened, sad eyes. "Noah, what happened?" he asked, reaching out for him to get him out of the boat.

"They took mom!" he choked out, as tears flooded his eyes, and he grabbed onto Gibbs like a life-raft. Gibbs hoisted Noah off the floor, and, after grabbing his gun off the workbench, he took the frightened little boy upstairs. Gibbs only set him down long enough to grab his holster, badge, and keys, before scooping Noah up once more, and taking him out to his truck.

_**[PAGE BREAK]**_

Mallory held the viewfinder to her eye, guiding the camera upwards towards the street sign as a bright red robin perched on the intersection of the signs. She smiled, snapping a few photographs of the bird, before it flew away. She lowered the camera, and took a step towards the curb, scanning the sidewalk that she was on, and the one across the street, looking for something else to capture an image of. With a smile, her eyes landed on a little girl across the street, holding a flower in her small, pudgy hand as she extended her arm upwards to her father.

Taking a few steps in their direction, to snap a picture, Mallory lowered herself a little, and put the viewfinder to her eye once again. She heard the screeching of tires, but didn't realize where it was coming from until she snapped the shutter, capturing an image of a dark red, two-door sedan instead of the father and daughter she'd intended. The car veered towards the curb Mallory stood on, narrowly missing her as she jumped backwards, toppling onto her back on the concrete, her arms clutching her camera protectively.

"Hey! Psycho! Learn to drive!" shouted a voice a few feet away, before someone towered over Mallory, hands outstretched. "You okay, ma'am?" he asked, glancing up as the car sped up again. Mallory didn't hesitate in lifting her camera, snapping a couple more shots – even just in an attempt at catching a license plate – before welcoming the man's help to gain her composure and stand on her feet once again.

"I think I'm okay. All I want to do is take pictures," she said, shaking her head and trying to shake off the jitters she felt.

"You sure? He came really close to fully running you over…" Mallory looked at the man, and smiled, patting his arm.

"I'm sure. I'm just…going to get on the bus and head home. Maybe nap. If I'm still jittery when I wake up, I'll go see a doctor," she said, before thanking him, gathering her bag off the ground, and heading towards the bus stop just across the street.

_**[PAGE BREAK]**_

As the elevator door opened, Gibbs gripped Noah's hand, and led him onto the floor, pausing as he caught sight of Director Vance standing over his desk.

"So I take it DiNozzo called you, too?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Gibbs didn't say anything as he led Noah over to Tony's desk, sitting him in his chair, before turning to Vance.

"Why would DiNozzo call _you_?" Gibbs asked, raising an eyebrow as he put his gun and badge on his desk. Vance peeked over his shoulder, and nodded behind Gibbs.

"Because Kristi and Noah are g-" came a voice behind him, cut short at the sight of Noah. Tony moved right up to his desk, and wrapped his arms around Noah. "Kiddo! Are you okay?" He sniffled and shook his head, then nodded, then shook his head again, unable to decide.

"DiNozzo! With me," Gibbs said, pointing, before reaching for Noah's hand. "Alright, Noah…I've got to go talk to him for a little bit. Director Vance will keep an eye on you, okay?" he asked, glancing up at Vance. Noah nodded, sniffling and wiping his nose on his sleeve, as Vance reached for his hand.

"Come on, little guy. Let's get you something to drink," he said, leading Noah out of the office and towards the conference room. Gibbs watched for a moment, before leading Tony towards the hallway, and down towards Abby's lab.

_**[PAGE BREAK]**_

Tim glanced up from the display on his cell phone, as Mallory cautiously approached the construction site. He smiled, shoving his phone back into his pocket, before turning and ducking his head through the framing.

"Abby! Mallory's here!" he called, as he moved away from the framing. Abby's head poked up from behind a table a few feet away, a hard hat covering her head. She waved, before ducking back down, going back to work.

Mallory approached Tim, and paused for a second, hugging him tightly.

"Hey, Tim," she said, nodding her head and smiling.

"Hey, Mall…everything okay?" She looked at him as she pulled back, but smiled, reassuringly.

"Yeah…Yeah, just a little shaky," she replied. "Got side-swiped by a nut-job while trying to get a picture a little bit ago." Tim frowned, but hugged her again, leading her back over towards Abby. Partway there, his phone began sounding from his pocket, and he paused, picking it up.

"McGee…Hey boss…uh, yeah, I'll be right there…" He snapped his phone shut, glancing at Mallory before stepping around her. "Abby!"

"What, McGee?" she asked, her voice slightly muffled behind the table.

"Gibbs needs me back at NCIS – you want to go or do you want to stay until he calls you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Abby's shoulders slumped, and she poked her head over the table to see him.

"Why do you need to go back?" she asked, eyebrow raised, a slightly skeptical look on her face as she glanced towards Mallory.

"Kristi's gone missing."


	9. A Familiar Action

I The room was filled with shaded sunlight, most of which was filtered by the curtains over the windows. Kristi was tied to her chair, which was placed in the corner of the room and tied to the floor-to-ceiling beam behind her. Her ankles were secured to the legs of the chair, with the rope being wound beneath the legs of her jeans, and her hands were bound together behind the back of the chair, then secured to the chair itself to prevent her from moving. She dropped her head against the window, and sighed, clearing her throat as lightly as she could. While she couldn't move much – if at all – Kristi could still peek around the curtain, just enough to see outside. The sun shone brightly enough to cause her to squint as she looked, but as the door across the room opened, she sat upright, and then lowered her head so her chin rested against her chest.

"Good to see you haven't gone anywhere, Reis," the voice spoke, chuckling as the door shut. Kristi rolled her eyes, and grumbled some to herself, before a hand gripped her chin, yanking her head up.

"Hey!"

"I'm sorry, were you saying something?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at her. Kristi glared up at him, but yanked her head from his fingers.

"Get away from me…you piece of shit," she spat, jerking against her restraints. He flicked his tongue lightly, sneering.

"Tsk tsk. I would have thought someone wanting to live to see their son again would be more willing to help," he replied, grabbing her roughly by the throat and pressing her roughly against her ropes.

_**[PAGE BREAK]**_

Abby's fingers flew across her keyboard, barely more than just a blur as Tim watched from where he stood a few feet away.

"Anything yet, Abs?" he asked, finally breaking the silence. She didn't look over, but she did shake her head.

"Not when I keep getting interrupted. You know Gibbs is the only one able to show up when I have something," she pointed out. She finally moved her hands back, and watched APHIS speed through the fingerprint on the screen.

"So you did manage to get a print off the car, then?" he asked, moving towards her to look. Mallory poked her head into the lab, and stepped inside, putting her hands into her pockets as she watched the two at the computer.

"One solid fingerprint, right on the window. Either they didn't think we'd notice, or they are an incredibly stupid kidnapper," Abby said proudly, smiling at Tim before looking over her shoulder at Mallory. "Hey!" she said, waving and grinning, before looking back at the monitor.

"Hey, guys…uhm…Hey…where did you say Tony lived?" Mallory asked, looking at Tim with a slightly worried look. Tim frowned, before glancing at Abby.

"Why?" Abby asked. Mallory, sighing, picked up her camera from around her neck, and pressed a couple buttons, turning it so they could see the display. Both wore a confused look on their faces, until Mallory scanned a few shots through, and at that time, Tim lifted his eyes.

"Are all these on the same street?" he asked, eyes wide. Mallory nodded. Carefully, Tim took the camera from her shoulders, and scooted around her, heading for the office. Abby took Mallory by the arm, leading her along behind him, until they reached his desk, where he was bringing all the pictures up on the plasma.

Tony sat at his desk, watching Gibbs stand beside his and talk to Noah, making the little boy smile, keeping his mind on happier thoughts than those of his missing mother. As Tim flopped into his chair, and uploaded the pictures, Tony turned, and raised an eyebrow.

"Whatcha got, Probie?" he asked, trying to be himself as he always was. Tim didn't look over, but threw a few shots from the camera up on the plasma, including the couple of shots Mallory took of the sedan that narrowly missed running her over.

"McGee!" Gibbs called, looking at the pictures, before moving towards his desk.

"Boss, these are about the same time Tony realized they were gone, just a few blocks away." Gibbs looked at the pictures, as Tony stood and moved around his desk to look, frowning.

"Where'd they come from, McGee?" Tony asked. Tim stood, grabbing the clicker.

"Mallory was taking pictures a few blocks from your place this morning," he started, clicking back to the image of the bird atop the intersection street sign.

"I was trying to take a picture of a father and daughter, but…someone drove in my way, and then tried to run me over. I got that picture," Mallory explained from behind them, pointing to the first, blurry image of the car, "and then snagged those as they drove off," she added, as Tim put up the two shots, one of the side of the car, and one of the plate. Gibbs turned to see the pictures, before looking at Mallory.

"…Good work, Quinn," he said, pointing to McGee. "McGee, run the plate. Abby, anything on APHIS yet?"

"No, Gibbs – but you'll know when I do," she replied, turning and bounding back down the hall.

"What about me, Boss?" Tony asked, raising an eyebrow. He paused, looking at Tony, then Ziva, and then over his shoulder at Noah.

"DiNozzo…you stay with Noah. Ziva…you go see if Abby needs a hand," he said, before moving around the desks and heading up the steps. Mallory looked around, and Tim moved, pulling a chair up near his desk.

"Come on. You can sit here," he said, as he sat in his own seat and started running the plate.

Gibbs climbed out of the elevator, stepping into Abby's lab, only to hear her frantic voice through her music. He moved, and hit Pause on her player, before exiting her office and looking at her from beside her desk.

"What's goin' on?" Abby's fingers pounded the keyboard quickly, as she struggled to stop the popping windows on her screen.

"There's someone hacking me, Gibbs!" she exclaimed, shaking her head.

"Well…can't you fix it?" he asked, shrugging nonchalantly. She frowned.

"No, Gibbs, not everything is that easy…but I've only ever seen this hacking from one place before…" she said, shaking her head a little quickly before the screen went black. Gibbs looked at her from the other side of the computer, eyebrow raised, power cord in hand. Sighing, she nodded a thank you.

"Where at, Abs?" he asked, as his phone rang. He looked down, and shook his head, nodding to her before heading back out of the office.

"Oh! Gibbs!" she called. He poked his hand back in the office, putting her Caf-Pow down on the table. She grinned. "Thank you!" she called, scooting over and picking it up, placing the straw against her lips and taking a drink.

Tony stood by Gibbs' desk, his hand on Noah's shoulder, as he kept his mouth shut, and looked over at Tim, who did the same thing, until Gibbs rounded the corner, and slowed.

"And I was hoping it was a bad joke," he replied, shaking his head.

"Gibbs. Good to see you again."

"What do you want, Tobias?" he asked, raising an eyebrow, and looking at Tim.

"Your department was running a print search on one of our suspects," he said, glancing towards Abby as she appeared around the corner, hesitantly.

"How are they one of your suspects?" Gibbs asked. Tobias glanced around at the team, before looking at Gibbs once more, but didn't say a word.

Gibbs, just as silent, pointed towards the elevator, before walking around Tobias and the agent behind him. The two climbed into the elevator, and watched the doors close, before Gibbs' finger hit the STOP, and he turned to face Tobias.

"Five years ago we got put on a call from someone saying they had information about a terrorist act that was going to happen in Washington. Before we could get any more out of them, the connection disappeared. When we found out who our tipster was, they had been killed – we contributed it to whatever it was they were going to tell us about, and managed to pick up a couple of prints off the scene. One year later, a retired Army colonel was killed in the same fashion as our tipster. Last year, an Army private turned up, same way. All three had a matching set of prints on them, the same prints that were being run today," Tobias explained. Gibbs stared at him, before shaking his head a little.

"Tobias, whoever those prints belong to kidnapped an NCIS agent this morning…I want to know everything you know about this case in the next hour, and I expect full cooperation," he said, hitting the switch on the wall and starting the elevator again.


	10. Falling into Place

Mallory sat on Ducky's desk chair, elbows on his desk, palms supporting her head. She stared, somewhat blankly, at the wall, as Ducky and Palmer leaned over an empty autopsy table across the room, looking over the autopsy reports delivered from the FBI. As Ducky turned the page, Palmer glanced up, and tapped his hand.

"Uh, Dr. Mallard?" he asked, raising an eyebrow over his glasses. Ducky looked up, and turned to see what Palmer was nodding to, before sighing.

"Keep looking, Mr. Palmer," Ducky told him, tapping the papers before moving away from the table, and stepping up behind Mallory. He stood still, silent, for a moment, waiting to see if Mallory would notice he was there, or say anything, but when she didn't, Ducky placed his hands on her shoulders lightly.

"I should have called McGee right after it happened, Uncle DD…I should have done something…" she said, her voice soft and shaky. Ducky's hands squeezed her shoulders lightly, before he moved down, and embraced her against him. She moved her hands, grasping his wrists, and leaning her head against his. "I should have called him, Uncle DD, then we wouldn't be here…"

"You don't know that, my dear, you shouldn't blame yourself. Things happen the way they do for a reason, they always do. It will be fine, Kristi will be here, safe and sound, before you know it." His voice was soothing, and she turning around in the chair, clasping her arms around Ducky.

"I pray your right, Uncle DD…." The doors behind Ducky slid open, and closed, and Palmer glanced up, smiling.

"Hey, Agent McGee." Tim looked over, and waved to Palmer with a smile, before moving towards Ducky, a new file in his hands.

"Hey, Palmer…Uh, Ducky? Gibbs asked me to bring you this," he said, holding up the file. Ducky turned around, and carefully released Mallory, placing a light kiss on her head before taking the file.

"Thank you, Timothy. I promise, dear, things are going to be _fine_," he emphasized, pointing the file at Mallory before moving back to the autopsy table with Palmer. Tim looked between Ducky and Mallory before moving and leaning against the desk.

Mallory looked up at Tim, and smiled very awkwardly up at him. Knowing it wasn't a natural smile, Tim shook his head.

"I don't believe that. C'mere," he replied, squeezing her shoulders to urge her to stand up. Mallory hesitated, but stood, throwing her arms around his shoulders. "Mall…don't do this to yourself. It's not going to end well for you if you do. We'll get Kristi back here in time for girls' night with you and Abby again. Even if we have to give up Tony to do it," he added, smiling as she laughed.

"I needed that, Tim…thanks…" she said, kissing his cheek. He held her against him, running his fingers over her hair as he rocked her to keep her smiling, and somewhat calm, until his phone began to ring. With a soft sigh, he moved, and put the phone to his ear.

"McGee…I'm on my way, boss…I gotta head back upstairs. I'll see you in a little while, okay?" he asked, as Mallory stepped back. She nodded, and kissed him quickly before he blushed, and headed out to the elevator. Mallory turned, taking a seat in Ducky's chair once again, and paused when she saw that, while Ducky was going through the files still, Palmer was looking over at her, smiling. She raised an eyebrow, mouthing _What? _to him. Palmer, a little surprised, looked back down and continued thumbing through the file with Ducky.

As McGee rounded the corner, and walked to the office, he saw Gibbs, Tony, and Ziva standing near the plasma, with a couple of FBI agents behind them. He hesitated, but walked up, nodding to the FBI before looking at the plasma.

"What did I miss?" he asked, glancing over at Tony. Tony clicked the button, bringing up the military shots of the dead colonel and private, and the autopsy photo of the tipster, that the FBI had brought them.

"Three dead in the past five years, all similar deaths, all with matching prints at the scene, but no idea of who left them. FBI ran the prints when it happened, but Abby is running them again, against any database she can hack her way into – no one around heard me say that," Tony said, shaking his head and pointing over his head at Fornell behind him.

"McGee, you keep checking into the three of them, try to find some sort of connection. DiNozzo, you and Ziva are coming with me, we're going to see if we can find anything at Kristi's place," he said, tossing the keys over Tony's head and into his open palm.

"Got it boss," he said, dropping the clicker onto Tim's desk before grabbing his bag and heading to the elevator, Ziva right behind him. Gibbs walked around his desk, grabbing his jacket, gun, and badge, and looked at Fornell.

"Find some way to entertain yourselves," he said, before walking off to join Ziva and Tony at the elevator. McGee sat down at his computer, going back to work searching through the history of the three pictures on the plasma.

_**[PAGE BREAK]**_

The door opened soundlessly against its hinges, and closed just as silently. Heavy boots thumped across the carpeted floor, catching Kristi's attention. She looked up, and groaned lightly, lowering her head and closing her eyes. The footsteps stopped beside her chair.

"Have you had time to think about what I said, Reis?" he asked, eyebrow raised, as he pressed his gloved finger into her shoulder. She grimaced, leaning into it some in his attempt to get the finger out of her shoulder.

"Stop…please," she begged, her whispered voice hoarse. A smirk formed on his lips, but he moved his hand, clasping his fingers behind his back.

"So are you saying that you believe what I've told you?"

"No…you're just…a liar. You'll say anything to get me to talk, and it won't work," Kristi replied, coughing a little and shaking her head. His finger dug into her shoulder again, harder this time, making her cry out and grind against her ropes, trying to free herself and stop the pain.

"I am not _just_ a liar. I am a man looking to get what I have earned, what I have waited a very long time for. No one is going to stand in my way, not even you," he replied, shaking his head. "You know something that I need to know. The location of a lock box once held in the name of Logan Reis." She looked up at him, tears sliding down her cheeks from the pain permeating throughout her body. "It was left to you, with instructions not to be opened and simply to be 'lost'. But you have his blood in your veins…and, of course, now, all over the rest of you. You may never have opened that box, but you sure as hell did not _lose_ it, and nothing you say will convince me otherwise." His voice was low and calm, but there was a threatening undertone to it, one that sent a chill through her spine as she shook in the chair.

"I don't…know what you're talking about…" she replied slowly, shaking her head. His knuckles struck her jaw, turning her head away from him, and sending another wave of pain through her body. She whimpered, spitting a little of the new blood in her mouth onto the floor, and the curtains.

"You do. You have five minutes to remember – then I'll be back," he growled, turning and walking back out of the room. As the door slammed closed behind him, Kristi dropped her chin painfully against her chest, and let out a soft sob, squeezing her eyes closed as the tears freely flowed.

"I can't….I can't…" she murmured to herself, shaking her head as she quietly sobbed.

_**[PAGE BREAK]**_

Tony climbed out of the elevator, and paused, sighing as he scratched the back of his head. From her desk, Ziva watched as he shut his eyes, and for a brief moment, the expression on his face changed from the strong feeling he'd held onto around them, into that of worry, and fear. She stepped around her desk, peering over her shoulder to make sure the others hadn't noticed. It was one thing for her to see Tony's face change as it had, but it was something different for Tim and Gibbs to see it.

"Tony…" He looked up, the fear gone, replaced with surprise.

"Ziva?" She stood in front of him for a moment, not saying anything, before she stepped closer and embraced him quickly.

"It will be fine." Even though Tony had heard those same words from Gibbs and Tim earlier as they spoke to Noah, it was good to hear it again, from Ziva, who actually was directing it at him. He watched her for a second as she stepped back, and nodded reassuringly to him.

"Thanks, Ziva," he said, nodding his head, as well, before moving to his desk.

Tim peered over, and pointed towards Tony, clicker in hand.

"Tony! Good timing. I think I found something…" he said, turning back to the plasma. Tony stepped behind him, beside Gibbs.

"Whaddaya got, McGee?" Gibbs asked, looking around Tim's shoulder to see the plasma.

"I did a full background on Private Williams," he said, bringing up one of the Army photos on the screen. "Williams was a soldier in a battalion in the early 1980s in Iran, the same battalion that was commanded by Colonel Perry," he continued, bringing up a second photograph. "By the early '90s, Williams had been shot in the…abdomen, and was no longer on Active Duty. He was, however, assigned to Basic Training." Tim glanced at Tony, before pressing the button and bringing up another picture. "The tipster, Victor Mulligan, didn't have a direct connection to Perry, but he did sign up for the army a few years before he was killed…Mulligan wound up being dropped before Basic was ever completed when it was revealed he wasn't stable enough to last, but he kept in contact with Williams after he returned home."

Tony and Gibbs looked over the three images, and the small pieces of information still visible on the screen, before Gibbs looked at Tim.

"McGee…what do _those_ three men, and the Mystery Man Abby is looking for in her lab have to do with _Kristi_?" he asked, frowning and pointing at the screen. Tim looked at him for a second, mouth open, before clearing his throat and turning back to the screen.

"Right. Uh…after a little more digging into Perry's battalion, I found a very interesting piece of information," he said, clicking the button a few times, before sighing, setting it down, and moving to his computer, clicking the keys for a moment.

"Probie! Hurry it up!" Tony snapped, frowning as he looked at the monitor. Tim's hands stuttered slightly on the keyboard, but a picture shot up of an older gentleman, posing in his Army uniform, a complete stranger with familiar eyes. Ziva glanced at Tony, noticing his look was more confused and uncertain than that on Gibbs' face.

"Perry was commander of the very battalion that Williams was a Private in, in the early '80s…that same battalion, though, had this man, Sergeant First Class Logan Cale Reis….Kristi's father," he said, glancing up at Gibbs, then Tony. While Gibbs' eyes showed a look of gradual understanding, the look that Tony's held was surprise. Tim hesitated as he looked at Tony, before Gibbs raised an eyebrow.

"So far, so good, McGee, but once again, what do all these men and the Mystery Man have to do with Kristi being _kidnapped_?" Gibbs specified, holding out his hands expectantly. Tim clears his throat, turning back.

"Yeah, that…I'm still working on it, the lack of knowing who our Mystery Man is sort of puts a damper on figuring out the full connection, but boss!" he called over his shoulder as Gibbs made his way down the hall. "I promise I'll figure it out!" he finished, before sighing, and looking back at Tony, and frowning. "What?"

"You _figure this out now_, Probie," Tony spoke, his voice a snarl, before he followed Gibbs down to Abby's lab. Tim looked over at Fornell, before putting the clicker down, taking a seat at his desk, and going to work to find more of their history to connect them.

The elevator doors dinged open, and Gibbs and Tony stepped out, silently walking into Abby's lab. Her music pumped through the speakers, filling the room as she danced lightly on her toes, her fingers dancing along the keyboard, as well.

"Whaddaya got, Abs?" Gibbs called over the music, grabbing the remote and turning it down. She glanced over her shoulder, flipping her pigtails, before looking back at the monitor.

"Not much, Gibbs…I'm still running the finger print, in every database possibly imaginable," she said, shaking her head and frowning.

"Just keep lookin', Abs. We're still looking for the connection to Kristi's kidnapping," he replied.

"Well, Gibbs, as always, you'll be the first to know when something comes up."

"You mean second."

"No, first," she corrected Tony. "You know he always comes down right as something shows up – it's like he knows, he just…_knows_," she replied, shaking her head. Gibbs, with a small smirk, nodded, and started out of the room, right as her computer beeped. He paused, turning to see the flashing green disappear as Abby pulled up the picture.

"Where did that come from?" Tony asked, moving to her other side so Gibbs could take his usual place.

"A police record, in Washington state, tiny little town that seems to have done it as an afterthought," she said, pointing to a couple dates – the date of the fingerprinting coming well after the date of arrest. "His name is Walter ," Abby announced, nodding at the computer. "Spent two years in and out of jail on multiple misdemeanors, before spending two years in prison for murder…"

"Two years?" Tony asked, uncertain. "Two years isn't standard – or usual – for _murder_."

"No kidding, Tony. Legner was released after two years because they overturned his sentence…apparently his lawyer was incompetent, and…." she trailed off, her eyes scanning the information on her screen. "And it turned out there wasn't enough evidence to have convicted him in the first place – he was just the first person they looked at. After his release, he disappeared…popped back in for a few weeks around an Army base….Fort Belvoir, in Virginia," she said, tapping on the monitor screen. "After that, he vanished again. Seems to have shown up in various spots for about a day or two at a time before disappearing into the mainstream again…I'll send it up to McGee," she said, typing a few things down on her keyboard before the information disappeared from her screen. Gibbs leaned in, planting a light kiss on Abby's cheek.

"Good work, Abs," he said, leading Tony out of the office, and back to their office.

Mallory sat in a spare chair next to Tim's desk, her eyes focused on the floor as he worked.

"A-Anything new?" she asked, not looking up. Without glancing back, Tim paused in his typing, and reached back, patting his hand over hers on her knee.

"Abby found out who the print belongs to, so I'm trying to make them all fit together…somehow," he says, before returning both hands to his keyboard. She nodded, and moved, giving him a quick hug, sitting back in her chair just as quickly. A small smile formed on his lips, one that grew rapidly into a large grin as he dropped his hands down. "Mallory….I think I figured this out…" he said, glancing at her. She lifted her head, a hopeful look on her face.

"You _think_, McGee?" Gibbs asked, stopping at his desk to eye Tim. Grabbing the clicker, Tim brought the images from his screen onto the plasma.

"The dead tipster, Victor Mulligan, owned a handyman company in Brookes Corner, not far from Fort Belvoir," he said, clicking a few times, "which is where Williams, Perry, and Reis were all stationed…" Tim pressed the clicker a couple more times, loading all four shots onto the screen, before bringing up the final shot, of Legner. "And at the same time all four were placed in those exact spots, Legner worked at the _exact same_ handyman company, for Mulligan."

"The big question is still, how did all this lead to Kristi going missing," Tony pointed out, his voice somewhat gruff, as he looked across the plasma at all five faces.

"Gettin' to that, Tony," he said, pushing the clicker a couple more times. "Looks like almost five years before Reis was killed, he had some property near Belvoir that he hired Mulligan's handyman company to fix up…Reis kept in contact with Mulligan and Legner for the next two years, though," he said, pulling up three bills from varying months, "and those two even did work for Williams and Perry," he finished, clicking twice to show them two more bills, one with Williams' name on the top, and one with Perry's.

Gibbs looked over the information on the screen, as did Tony, and neither of them said a word, silently taking in what Tim had just said, and trying to make it all connect as to why Legner would kill any of them, let alone all of them. As Gibbs opened his mouth, to prod Tim further, Ziva jumped from her chair, moving around to hand Gibbs a slip of paper.

"I have one to top that, McGee…," she said, shrugging a little but still smirking.

"Spit it out, Ziva," Tony said, turning to look at her. She gazed at him, the smirk still on her lips, before nodding and taking the clicker from Tim's desk.

"A few months before the date on the final bill," she started, clicking to bring up the final bill on the plasma, "Reis took out a safety deposit box at his bank – the bank where he was killed. I called the bank this morning, they said that the box was bought by someone else a year after his death, and they no longer have what it contained…but Reis was not the most careful with his safety box."

"How so?" Gibbs prodded, raising an eyebrow.

"Almost everyone at the bank got a look at what was in the box, at one point or another, and he tended to go in to access it _with_ someone," she said. "A few tellers confirmed that, at various times while he had that box, one of these four went in with him – never more than one at a time, and never for less than twenty minutes at a time," Ziva added, handing over a log sheet for Gibbs with times and dates.

"Did anyone say wha-"

"A lot of cash, some photographs…they said there was a lot in the box, but most of it was cash and coin," she replied.

"Who has the contents now?" he asked, frowning as he looked at Ziva, somewhat annoyed she hadn't elaborated on that point already. She smirked, and turned to look at Tony, who was staring at her expectantly.

"Kristi signed for it and walked out with it ten months after her father was killed."


	11. Cuffs or a Coffin

Gibbs set the papers that Ziva handed him down on his desk, and pointed across at Tony.

"DiNozzo, you and Ziva go back to Kristi's place, try to find that box – we need to know what was inside that might have been enough to kill for," he ordered, tossing the keys across to Tony.

"Gibbs, we searched that entire apartment, there wasn-"

"You search it again, David! Go through everything – even in Noah's room," he ordered, his voice pointed and irritated as he rounded the corner and made his way up the steps to MTAC. Tim stood quietly, looking between Tony and Ziva, as they grabbed their gear.

"Probie, keep lookin' for signs of Legner – I want that man either in cuffs or a coffin before the end of the day," Tony snarled, storming to the elevator with Ziva in tow. Gulping, Tim nodded in agreement, and turned his head, looking at Mallory as she came to a stop beside his desk, her bottle of water gripped in her fingers.

Without saying anything, Tim moved over, and hooked his arm around Mallory's shoulders, leading her to Ziva's desk. He gently sat her down, and smiled at her, giving her shoulders a light squeeze before folding his jacket and laying it onto the desktop.

"If you want to stay here," he said, indicating NCIS altogether, "you should get some rest. I've got some more work to do, but…try to rest. I'll be right over there," he finished, motioning to his desk, before hugging her gently, and moving back to his seat. With a tired smile, Mallory set her water down, bunched up his jacket, and rested her head on top of it and her arms, letting her eyes drift closed for a rest she knew she desperately needed.

_**[PAGE BREAK]**_

Ziva kneeled on the carpet beside Noah's bed, lowering herself fully to the floor to peer underneath the framing.

"Anything yet?" Tony's voice sounded from the other side of the hallway. She sighed, but tilted her head a little so her voice would project through the door.

"No, Tony, not yet! How about you? Have you found anything yet?" she asked, shaking her head and stuffing herself beneath the bed to pull out his hidden stash of toys and small boxes.

Tony stepped down from the chair, glancing upwards at the top shelf of Kristi's closet, before sighing.

"Nope. Nothing. And we're running out of places to check," he replied, shaking his head. Looking around, he groaned a little, and finally lowered himself onto the floor beside her bed, knowing that everywhere else in the bedroom had been checked. "Wait! I take that back!" he called, sliding his hand towards the head of the bed, and tugging at the handle of the box that was stored there. Ziva climbed off the floor, moving to Kristi's room, and paused by the door.

"What is it?"

"I don't know yet…but it's a good-sized box, hiding beneath her bed," he said, hoisting it off the floor and gently dropping it onto the mattress. Ziva crossed the floor, and reached around Tony, checking the lock, before looking around.

"It needs a key…my bet is it would be on her key ring," she said, as she checked the night table, and Tony checked the dresser across the room.

"Probably…so do you want to pi-…you already did," he slowly said, closing the last dresser drawer and turning to see the box open, and Ziva smirking next to it.

"Should I do the honors of looking through it, or do you think you can?" Tony looked at her, raising an eyebrow, before digging his hands into the box.

Tony sat beside the box, filing through stacks of photographs, and letters between her and her father. Even though Tony knew they were looking for anything that would have been contained in that safety deposit box, he felt a courtesy – at the least – to Kristi not to read the letters between her and her father more than necessary.

After skimming through the many stacks of papers and pictures inside the box, Tony reached in, and frowned, as his fingers slapped against a smaller container.

"…Ziva? There's a box in here," he said, standing and removing the smaller container from inside the large box. On the lid of the box was the lock, formed for a key, and strapped to the handle with a small bungee cord, was the key that the lock belonged to. Smiling a little, he put the key in the lock, and turned it, pulling the lid open quickly. Inside were three tall stacks of bills, surrounded by what could have been hundreds of coins, as well as envelopes, crumpled and faded, covering most of the coinage.

"I believe we should get this back to Gibbs," Ziva said, moving and closing the lid, turning and removing the key before snatching up the box and leaving Tony to replace all the items in the original box.

The elevator door opened, and Gibbs came down the hall, coffee cup clutched in his hand, and paused near Tony's desk. Tony and Ziva were sitting on the floor between Tony's and Tim's desks, the contents of the lock box spread between them on the carpeting. Raising an eyebrow, he stepped around his desk, setting the cup down before looking over.

"I take it you found the box."

"We did, boss…Abby and McGee are checking the cash in her lab, and Ziva and I are going through the other stuff," Tony said, not lifting his eyes as he scanned over the documents in his hands.

"Anything good?"

"Well..it looks like Reis was into something with the others that got them a lot of money…and then wound up refusing to split it," Ziva said, grabbing the clicker and pulling up a scan of a few of the documents they had dug from the box.

"Any idea what, David?" he asked, staring at the plasma. Tony tossed his handful of papers to Ziva, before hopping up to his feet, and snagging the clicker.

"Whatever it was, boss, we're thinking it had something to do with this," he said, pulling up a letter they had scanned before Gibbs' arrival.

_5-23-99_

_L.C.R-_

_The money is as much mine as yours._

_I want my share for the sales._

_Tomorrow. 10'o'clock. You know the place._

_W.L._

Gibbs read over the scratchy handwriting, before looking at Tony, silent, with an eyebrow raised. After a minor hesitation, Tony clicked again, and brought up another handwritten note, this one more shorthand than the letter from Legner.

"We had McGee look over it, too – from the looks of the note from Legner, and this scratchy receipt, the whole bunch had been supplying each other with arms, and selling them to other countries," he said, motioning to the initials for various countries with dates and amounts. Ziva stood up, looking at Gibbs.

"It _appears_ that Legner was supplying outsiders – possibly terrorists, though that part is difficult to tell –with weapons, and they were going to split the money, and Reis, Williams, and Perry were probably supplying _him_ with their transport overseas. I have the feeling that those three were also on the receiving end of the funds, and they'd split it between themselves, but they weren't handing it over to Legner like they were supposed to."

"Mulligan caught wind of what was happening," Tony said, putting the clicker down, "and so Legner killed him to keep him from talking." Gibbs grabbed his cup off of his desk, and rounded the corner.

"Now find me an address!" he hollered, disappearing into the elevator. Tony and Ziva looked at each other, before hopping over the mess of papers and pictures left on the floor to sit back at their desks.

The doors opened, and Abby's music filtered through the air, gently rather than loudly. Gibbs raised an eyebrow, pausing near the door, and watching Abby and McGee as they sat at the computer, her typing, him flipping through the bills.

"Whaddaya got, Abs?" he asked, stepping up behind them. She glanced over her shoulder, and smiled.

"Some good news, Gibbs. Most of the bills that were in that safety box were real bills," she said, pointing towards the stack of bills on the table. Gibbs frowned, and looked them over. They weren't American bills – it was incredibly apparent that the money Reis had been holding in the box hadn't been changed into US Currency.

"Most, Abs?"

"Well, whoever gave this money to Reis must not have had enough at the time – the stuff by McGee," she said, reaching back around McGee and snatching a small handful of bills, "was counterfeit. We ran the money and the numbers through the system – all of these were made by hand outside of the government." He raises an eyebrow.

"How is that good for us?" Abby glanced at McGee.

"Means if we want to catch who was _buying_ the arms, we might be able t-"

"Abby! I need more information on Legner – Kristi comes first," he replied sharply. She gulped, but nodded, and moved back to her computer.

"I did manage to find an address for Legner," she said, pulling up a report on the screen. "However…we already checked…he hasn't lived at that address for at least a few months," she added, pursing her lips as she turned to see him. He sighed, before opening his mouth to remark, just as his phone rang. Gibbs grabbed it, and flipped it open.

"Gibbs...Be right there." Snapping the phone shut, he turned and made his way to the elevator. "Ziva found something."

Ziva watched Gibbs round the corner, and hit the clicker, pulling up a scanned image of a signed document.

"After you went downstairs, we searched for Legner in any way we possibly could…Turns out, when he moved out this way almost six months ago, he bought a home that he wound up selling not long after buying it, and leased a motel outside of Alexandria – it hadn't been occupied in years, and he purchased it with the promise to turn it into efficiency apartments," she said, reading it off the screen. Gibbs grabbed his gun and badge.

"Did you get an address?" Tony grabbed the printed copy of the document, holding it up, as McGee moved up to his desk.

"Got it boss."

"Get your gear, grab the car. McGee, let's move it!" Gibbs ordered, tossing the keys to Tony so he could pull the car around, before following him and leading McGee and Ziva to the elevator.


	12. Looks Can Be Deceiving

Legner pushed open the door, and looked in at Kristi as she rested her chin on her chest, struggling to breathe and keep consciousness. A smirk formed on his face, but he shook his head, and crossed the room.

"Rise and shine, Reis. I didn't give ya' the okay to rest." She lifted her head, squeaking softly, as she looked at him through her one good eye. Kristi's left eye wasn't quite swollen shut, but might as well have been – it didn't do her any good now. Her showing skin was a mesh of green, purple, black and blue, with a soft layer of red across it all. Legner moved around, and gripped the back of Kristi's chair, jerking it roughly so he could reach the knots around her hands. She grimaced, and whimpered, with less than enough strength to cry out any longer.

"You and I," he said, yanking his blade through the cords around her wrist, "are moving outta this place. I'm not givin' you up until you tell me what I wanna know," he hissed into her ear. She pulled her head away, a groan forming and passing her lips. With another smirk, Legner sliced the cords on her feet, and around the rest of the chair, yanking her to her feet. "Come on, now, girlie, stand at attention, just like Daddy used to," he snarled, removing a zip tie from his pocket and sliding it around her wrists, locking them once more behind her back. Grasping her torn and swollen wrists, Legner pulled her towards the door, shoving her into the wall to check outside. As her body made contact with the rough plaster along the wall, she gasped slightly for air, and collapsed to her knees, letting her body form to the corner. Legner leaned back in, and snorted slightly, tightening his fingers around her shoulders as he pulled her from the floor. "Come on, Reis, don't wanna disappoint Daddy, do we?" he taunted, leading her through the doorway.

_**[PAGE BREAK]**_

Gibbs pressed his boot into the accelerator, pulling the car rapidly down the highway.

"Okay, from the looks of Legner's various police reports, he's not smart in a McGee-like sense," Abby's voice sounded through the speakerphone, "but he is wicked smart. He's always had a weapon, or so all the reports say. He knows how to fight…according to some of his older records, he had attempted to sign up for the Marines, but he was turned down. He's strong, and he knows what he's doing, but – like pretty much everyone else in the world – he's not invincible…he's always made one slip, and I think his lease on this property is going to be the biggest one yet."

"Good job, Abs. Keep us updated if you find anything new," Gibbs said, glancing over at the others as he snapped his phone shut. McGee and Ziva sat in the backseat, staring out the window as they drove down the road, and Tony sat quietly, but kept moving his hand back to his hip, and down to his ankle, making sure his weapons weren't moving when he wasn't looking. Gibbs, unable to resist the small crooked smirk that fit his lips so perfectly, shook his head, and turned his attention back to the road.

The car rolled to a stop, crunching branches and gravel before Gibbs flipped the key to kill the engine. Jamming the key into his pocket, he climbed out, and quietly led the rest of the team up the curved, overgrown driveway towards the motel. Tony's fingers were already gripping his weapon, his eyes fixed on the building ahead of them.

"Tony, McGee, you go around back. Ziva, you're with me," Gibbs ordered, not turning to see them, knowing they weren't about to disobey the order. As they reached the building, Tony and Tim hunkered down, rounding the side of the building and peering around to the back.

"See anything, Tony?" Tim asked quietly, looking behind him. He shook his head, positioning his finger in the trigger guard as he slunk around and paced a little.

Gibbs and Ziva approached the first door, marked with a rusted metal sign reading "Office", before he reached his hand to the knob. A slight turn to the right, and he shook his head, signaling that it was locked. He stepped a little to the side, as Ziva stood straight in front of the door, lifting her leg and slamming her boot directly into the door. A sliver of wood from near the lock flipped through the air as the door whipped back and bounced off the wall. Gibbs followed her in, gun drawn, as they cleared the rooms inside the office.

Around the back of the building, Tim and Tony stretched along the wall, peering up through each window to check the status of the rooms as best they could. Each room passed was empty of life, filled only with collapsed furniture and construction supplies. They quietly and carefully traipsed passed each room, pausing long enough at every window to know that Kristi wasn't inside. With every passing room, Tony felt the lump in his throat grow, and towards the end, the lump fell from his throat, and turned instead into a knot in his stomach.

Gibbs and Ziva reached the last door, and carefully tried the knob. Unlike the others, the knob turned fully in Gibbs' hand, and the door opened, quietly, rather than creaky, like the rest. Gibbs glanced at Ziva, motioning her inside, as he followed her in. The room itself was just as different from the others as the door could have led them to believe: it was cleaned up, with a chair leaning against the wall with pieces of rope lying around the feet.

"Looks like someone was held here, Gibbs," Ziva spoke quietly, stopping for a second over the rope. Gibbs nodded his head, sighing slightly as he made his way towards the window to see inside the bathroom. As he stepped into the white tiled room, lit only by a fading bulb strung from the ceiling, Ziva opened the closet, glancing around a dark wood closet.

Behind her, Legner silently stepped into the doorway, peering inside at the room that seemed empty besides Ziva. Stepping inside, his hammer in his hand, Legner guided his feet across the carpet in silence. Gibbs exited the bathroom, glancing around, and moved quickly upon his noticing Legner sneaking up behind Ziva. Swinging himself slightly, Gibbs raised his weapon, and pulled the trigger, one shot, into Legner's shoulder. Already in mid-swing, Legner still made contact with Ziva, but instead of her head, as he'd aimed, he swung the head of the hammer into her shoulder as she spun, and ducked out of the way. She flinched, but grabbed the hammer, flipping Legner to the floor. He groaned, but whipped his bleeding arm down, yanking his small gun from his waistband, and raising it to Ziva. Another gun shot, and one more, and Legner's hand flopped against the floor, his head lolling to the side. Ziva tossed the hammer to the side, letting it thump against the floor. She turned towards Gibbs, who was replacing his weapon in its holster.

"Check him." Ziva nodded, kneeling on the floor, and placed her fingers against his neck. She turned her head, as Gibbs quickly removed his weapon again, pointing it towards the doorway at the sound of heavy footsteps. Tony and Tim appeared, guns drawn, looking around.

"You okay in there, Boss?" Tony asked, carefully stepping into the room.

"We got it, Tony…and Legner is dead," Ziva said, standing and brushing her hand against her windbreaker. The four looked at each other, as the knot in Tony's stomach tightened and wound bigger.

"What about…" he started, biting his lip slightly as he looked at Gibbs. Without hesitation, Gibbs moved for the door, brushing past his team.

"Search the grounds – Legner isn't going anywhere and she can't be far," he ordered, disappearing around the corner. Tony glanced at Ziva, and Tim, before he followed out the door.

The team covered the property, meeting up at the trees line at the far end. Tim opened his mouth to ask Gibbs if they were going to continue through, but, as if reading his mind, Gibbs led his team through the trees. Within a few feet, a small clearing appeared amidst the trees, with a well-driven path leading through. Gibbs broke into a jog, reaching the path, and looking either way.

"That way," he ordered, pointing to his right before jogging down the path. Tim glanced at Tony, but found he was the only one uncertain about Gibbs' choice of direction. Clearing his throat, he jogged after the rest of the team. Within seconds, a tool shed appeared within the trees, rusted and broken, seemingly barely standing in the brush. The four drew their weapons once again, approaching the broken, tilted door. Tony took his place directly in front of the door, looking around at the others, before pulling it open, and blinking a few times as his eyes cleared. His gun clacked against the shed floor as he lunged inside. Ziva, Tim, and Gibbs jumped into place, ready to fire, but quickly holstered their weapons when they saw what led Tony to drop his gun and jerk inside.

On the floor, hands still zip-tied behind her back, her hair covering half of her face, lay Kristi, barely breathing, and not moving.


	13. Smiling at the Window

The elevator doors slid open, and, as Mallory watched from where she stood with Abby beside Tim's desk, the doors closed again, without anyone climbing out. She glanced at Abby, the concern evident upon her face. Abby bounced slightly, wrapping her arms around her friend as she tightly but as carefully as she could.

"It's okay, Mall….They said they found her, and McGee didn't sound as upset as he would have if she was…well…you know." Mallory nodded her head, knowing what Abby meant, before hugging her friend back.

"Then why aren't they here yet? Why isn't someone giving us an update?"

"Because we were too busy staring at the floor to realize the door opened," Tim's voice sounded as he, Gibbs and Ziva approached their desks. The girls stepped away from each other, and Abby moved, hugging the three of them. After letting go of Abby, Tim, in one move, wrapped his arms around Mallory and pulled her into an embrace.

"How is she, Tim?" Mallory asked, her voice hopeful and worried. He glanced at Gibbs, but nodded his head a little bit.

"Kristi is in ICU, unconscious but stable. Tony's there now," Gibbs answered, putting his gun and badge away in the drawer, before moving up the steps towards MTAC.

"Where's Noah?" Ziva asked, glancing around a little. Mallory moved back from Tim, quietly thanking him for the hug, before wiping her face and looking towards Ziva.

"Uncle DD has him…giving him the grand tour," she said, letting her voice flourish in the way Ducky's had when he said he was going to.

_**[PAGE BREAK]**_

The door to the room slid closed behind the nurse, and she leaned against the counter. Tony pushed off the wall near the door, and moved towards the nurse, his fingers gripping his jacket.

"Can I go in there now?" he asked hopefully, looking over at her. She paused, pen in mid-stroke, before looking up at Tony.

"Not until the doctor gives the actual okay, Mr. DiNozzo. The best thing you can do is go home. If Doctor Matley gives the okay, the on-call will contact you," she promised, patting his arm. "But go home and rest now."

It wasn't hard to tell that Tony wasn't happy to hear that, but he nodded anyway, and looked through the glass into Kristi's room. She had been cleaned up as soon as she arrived, and even though her face was swollen, and most of her exposed skin was either bruised or broken, she looks worlds better than she had when Tony found her in the shed, limp as a rag doll. He checked her stats on the monitor beside her bed, happy to see she was breathing normally, before, with extreme reluctance, he made his way to the exit, and down to the car.

Gibbs glanced over his monitor as Tony left the elevator, and paused at his desk to toss his things in his chair.

"Still won't let me see her…but I'm going to get Noah, let him know we found Kris…unless someone already did," he said slowly, turning to see Gibbs, who was already shaking his head.

"No one has, yet, and you won't either." Tony frowned, before perching his hands on his hips.

"Why not, Boss? He deserves to know she's f-"

"Because, DiNozzo, if you tell Noah that we found his mother and she's in the hospital, he's going to flip out and want to see her – and you're going to have to break his spirits because no one deserves to see their mother like that," he replied, standing and raising an eyebrow at Tony. "The most you're going to tell Noah is that his mother is fine, and he'll get to see her soon, but not yet." Tony eyed Gibbs, but reluctantly nodded his head. The last thing Tony would ever do is deny Gibbs his right to express his parental point-of-view – it was almost as big of a sin as spilling or drinking Gibbs' coffee.

"Got it Boss," he said, nodding again before watching Abby round the corner with Tim and Noah.

"There he is, buddy," Abby said, patting Noah's shoulder before clasping her own hands together in front of her. Noah scooted quickly across the floor, and wrapped his arms around Tony, giving him a squeeze.

"Hey, kiddo," he said, hugging him. Tony glanced at Gibbs, before sighing. "Hey…we found mom," he said, leaning against his desk and moving Noah so he could look at him. "She's fine…but we can't see her yet. Soon, but not yet," he said quickly, and Noah, clearly exhausted, didn't argue.

"I think you should take him home for the night, Tony," Abby suggested, shrugging a little but smiling.

"Good idea…who wants to drive him? I have to...do a couple things first," he replied, biting his lip but looking at Tim, who rolled his eyes, but nodded.

"No problem. C'mon, Noah. Let's grab an ice cream, and then I'll take ya home," he said, reaching for Noah's hand. Noah reluctantly moved away from Tony, and nodded, and as Tim led him the other way, Tony gathered his things, nodded a 'thank you' to Gibbs and Abby, and moved quickly to the elevator. They glanced at each other, but shrugged, and Abby smiled, turning and heading back down to her lab.

_**[PAGE BREAK]**_

Tony had just finished picking up his apartment, making it look much more suitable than it had been, when Tim knocked on his door.

"Tony? Ya home?"

"Just a second, Probie!" Tony called, closing the closet in his room and heading down the hall to open the door. Tim and Noah looked in at him, as Tony reached for Noah's hand. "Thanks, McGee. I'll see you tomorrow," he said, as Tim nodded, waved to Noah, and headed off. Keeping hold of Noah's hand, Tony closed the door, and led him down the hall.

"Dad?" he asked, blinking up at Tony sleepily.

"Yeah, kiddo?"

"Can I go to bed now?" His voice was droopy, and already almost asleep, as Tony chuckled, and scooped him up.

"Just where I was headed…"

Tony clicked off the light, and looked over at Noah, as he snuggled against the pillow on Tony's bed. He was already asleep, less than a couple minutes after lying down, and Tony couldn't resist snickering as he closed the door on his way out. He made his way to the living room, and flopped down the couch, sitting back in the dark and silence of his apartment. It was his longing to go to the hospital and sit with Kristi, but until they gave him the green light, he wasn't able to. He sat in his living room for a little while, staring out the window and thinking, before he finally got up, changed out of his clothes and into his pajama bottoms, and climbed into bed with Noah, rolling away from his son before falling asleep.

_**[PAGE BREAK]**_

The car sat quietly in front of Ducky's house, with the engine off and the windows down. Mallory looked out the window, before turning to look at Tim, who was peeking up at the darkened windows of the house, and smiled.

"Hey…McGee?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. He looked over, and smiled back.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you. For not getting upset about my freaking out," she said, reaching over and wrapping her arms around his shoulders. Tim grinned, but chuckled, and patted her back as he embraced her.

"No problem. We've all freaked out ourselves – we know what it's like," Tim replied, giving her a squeeze before pulling back. "Tomorrow morning, I'm going to come by to pick you up, and we are going for breakfast…that okay?" he asked, pressing his lips against her cheek before climbing out of the car with her.

"Of course it is. I never go out for breakfast alone," she replied, taking his hand as he led her up to the front door. "Call me on the way?"

"Not a problem. Get some rest, Mall…" he said, embracing her again. This time, when he pulled back, he looked at her, and carefully moved his lips against hers. Mallory returned the sweet kiss for a moment, before hesitantly and reluctantly pulling away.

"You too, Tim…I'll see you in the morning," Mallory said, before opening the door and slipping into the dark home, latching the door behind her. With a chuckle, Tim shook his head, and hopped down the steps. As he climbed into his car, and pulled out of Ducky's drive, he caught a glimpse of the sky as he drove off, and the moon as it rose above the trees, lighting up the entire exterior of the house, and Mallory's face as she smiled at the window.


	14. Three Months Finale

_Three Months_…

The trees, cars, and houses flew by as the car sped down the road. Tony could hear Noah laughing from the backseat, and it brought a smile to his own face as he peeled around the corner, and hit the brakes sharply as the car reached the parking spot.

"You know the drill, kiddo, right?" Tony asked, laughing as he put the Charger in park and turned to look at Noah.

"Mom doesn't know a thing!" he squealed, laughing, as he undid his seatbelt and hopped out of the car. Tony shut the car off, and ruffled his hair before leading Noah up to the hospital.

"Exactly…" he replied, passing through the short entrance and looking around the lobby.

Kristi looked up from her seat near the desk, and smiled, carefully climbing from her chair with the help of the nurse she had been talking with.

"We'll see you next week, Kristi," the nurse said, nodding towards Tony before returning to her station behind the desk. Noah bounded up, and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"He-ey, Noah. It is so good to see you," she said, kissing her hand and pressing it against her cheek. Tony moved over, and smiled at the two of them, placing a hand lightly on the small of her back.

"Good to see you too, Momma…I'm so glad you're coming home now," he said, nodding sharply. Tony nodded in agreement, before motioning.

"Come on – cars outside…" he said, leading her towards the door. Kristi glanced at Tony, then over at Noah, and smiled.

"Good. I'm so ready to get out of here." The doors slid open, and for the first time in three months, Kristi stepped outside of the hospital without a nurse, and stood for a moment near the car, simply looking around. Tony unlocked the doors, and moved to climb in, but stopped when he realized she hadn't gotten in yet.

"Kris?" She looked at him, and smiled, moving and lowering herself into the car.

"I'm ready to go."

_**[PAGE BREAK]**_

Ziva sat behind her desk, tapping her fingers lightly on the keyboard as she typed. Every few minutes, she'd pause, and glance over at Tony's desk, frowning slightly about him not yet being there. Tim looked over from his desk, where he and Mallory were sneakily playing a game on his computer.

"Problems, Ziva?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. She looked at him for a second, before turning to her computer again.

"Tony has not called – he should be here," she said, shaking her head.

"Maybe he got stuck in traffic…or stopped for coffee…"

"Or he's just a little late," Mallory said, nodding towards the elevator. They turned and looked at the open elevator, as Tony climbed out, but instead of moving straight for his desk, he turned around, and extended his hand.

"You sure about this?" he asked curiously, as he helped Kristi climb from the elevator and let the doors close behind her. She nodded, and cleared her throat, switching the cane in her hands so she could lean against it, so Tony didn't have to hold her up.

"Of course. Vance is making me take time off so I can completely heal – he never said I couldn't come in to see everyone," she said, flinching slightly but making her way towards their desks. Tony nodded, and moved up to his desk, dropping his bag behind his chair. Mallory was already out of her seat by Tim, and standing near Ziva's desk. With a grin, Kristi lifting her free hand, and wrapped it around Mallory's shoulders.

"So you're okay now?" Mallory asked hopefully, gently squeezing her friend.

"I'm better, but not healed – I'm off work until I can move freely," she chuckled. "If you hadn't snapped those pictures, Mall…"

"Don't say it. I know. It's good to have you back."

Kristi moved carefully from Mallory, and gave Ziva's hand a squeeze, before moving across the floor to hug Tim.

"I'm going downstairs to see Abby…then to see Ducky. If anyone sees Gibbs…let him know I'll find him sooner or later, okay?" she asked, chuckling, before hobbling around the corner to the elevator. Tony shook his head, before looking at the others.

"She insisted on coming up…but she doesn't want help walking," he said, as though they had been wondering, and sat down at his desk.

The elevator opened, and Kristi carefully climbed out, making her way through the sliding door of Abby's lab. The music was pumping, and Abby was tapping her foot as she stood at computer, eyes resting on the eyepieces of her microscope.

"Abby?" she asked, coming to a stop by the table. Abby lifted her head, and spun, grinning.

"Kristi! You're here!" she said, scooting around and hugging her carefully but sweetly.

"Course I am. I don't have to work, I don't have to make an excuse," Kristi giggled. "Have you seen Gibbs?" Abby shook her head, glancing back at the computer.

"Nope. And I don't have anything yet, but I always expect him…Did you need to see him?"

"Just wanted to thank him. I'm on my way to see Ducky now…but thank _you_ Abby, for everything you did," she said, hugging her again. "If you see Gibbs, though…let him know I'm kind of looking for him?"

"Of course! Be careful," Abby answered, grinning and turning back to her work as Kristi headed out of the lab, and made her way to autopsy.

As the doors opened, Kristi stopped, a few feet from the metal slabs. The farthest one had a body, and Ducky and Gibbs were standing beside it, Ducky prattling on, and Gibbs looking it over. She stood quietly inside the doors, waving a hello to Palmer when he noticed her from his place at the computer.

"Call me when you find something, Duck," Gibbs said, turning and starting for the door.

He slowed, but gave a small smirk, and continued. Kristi waved to Ducky, smiling at him, before giving him a quick hug as he followed Gibbs to the door. She spoke with him for only a second, before he returned to the body, and she limped behind Gibbs to the elevator, climbing in with him.

"You aren't back to work, are you?" he asked, eyebrow raised.

"Vance has told me I'm taking forced-leave, so I can get better. Can't do much with a limp." Gibbs chuckled, and nodded.

"I wanted to ask you…" he started, but Kristi shook her head, already knowing.

"I knew someone was following me…I just didn't know who it was. But since I was concerned about Noah, and I knew the safest place for him, I taught him how to get to your house. The door is always open, and you spend most of your time working on the boat. He's safer hiding in your boat than he would probably be anywhere else." Gibbs nodded, and reached over, rubbing her back lightly.

"Good to have you better." The doors slid open, releasing the two of them onto their floor.

"Good to be better, Gibbs. Thank you," she added, looking at him with a smile before stepping out.

As they exited onto their floor, Kristi paused, and couldn't help but smile when she saw her desk over the dividing wall. The computer was still off, but had been pushed as far towards the edge of the desk as possible, and the desktop had been decorated with ribbons of various colors – most of them dark. Multiple cards were positioned upright, each with a different picture on the cover. She glanced around at the agents at their desks, none of whom were looking over at her, before making her way around the desk, and picking up each card, smiling as she read it, and laying it down beside the keyboard. When she picked the last one up, she paused, and moved her arm, seeing the large sheet of paper draped over the desk and held down by her lamp and phone. Written in black, red and pink bubble letters formed in Abby's handwriting, were the words, "Safe & Sound, Back on Base! We missed you, Kris!" Kristi couldn't help but smile and blush when she saw that the "border" that boxed the words in wasn't a box, but rather, signatures from Ziva, Tim, Gibbs, Ducky, Palmer, Abby, and Tony, whose name was delicately stretched out to fill the entire top border.

Kristi finished reading the cards, and carefully folded the paper from her desk, and slid them all into her bag. Turning around, she simply stood beside her desk, and looked at the agents as they sat at their desks, but without saying another word, Kristi took hold of her cane, pulled her bag over her shoulder, and moved towards the elevator, climbing in and heading down as the doors opened, and closed.

Tony pushed the door open, and peeked into his living room, raising an eyebrow when he noticed the lights were off, and there were no sounds coming from the apartment. Carefully, he closed the door, and headed towards his room. The light that hit his eyes as he opened the door startled him, but he shook his head, and looked around the door, smiling when he saw Kristi curled up on the right side of the bed, her arm over Noah, as he was curled against her, asleep.

"Hey," he whispered, tossing his jacket onto the chair a few feet away. She lifted her head, looking over at him through partially closed eyes, and smiled, before laying her head back down.

"Hey…" Tony stepped back out of the room for a minute, changing out of his clothes and into his pajama bottoms, before stepping back in, and looking around for the light source. Kristi lifted her hand, and pointed towards a light plugged into the outlet opposite the door.

"He wanted me to plug it in…so he could see me if he woke up. You can shut it off, though – I'm not moving anymore tonight." Tony slid across the floor, flicking the switch to Off, before climbing into the bed on the other side of Noah.

"What happened to your apartment?" he whispered, eyebrow raised. Kristi shook her head.

"This time tomorrow, it won't be mine. After leaving NCIS today, I spoke with my landlord – he let me out of the lease because I was incapable of living without another adult to assist me," she spoke, rolling her eyes. "Tomorrow I get my security deposit back, and I'll have to have you help pack my things…but tomorrow you also get a couple of roommates." Tony couldn't help but grin when she said that, only he knew she couldn't see it, so instead, he patted her cheek gently.

"Happy to hear it. You should get some rest, gorgeous." That word alone made her blush, and nudge his hand with her cheek.

"You need to rest, too, DiNozzo," she replied, stifling a yawn before nestling her head against the pillow. He moved his hand away from Kristi, pulling the sheet across his waist, before he settled comfortably into the bed. For a moment, the room was silent, save for the breathing of the three of them. Tony listened in the darkness, before reaching out, and laying his hand over hers as it rested across Noah's side. She didn't move right away, but after a few seconds, she slid her hand back, and interlaced her fingers with his, slowly drifting off to sleep, followed shortly by him.


End file.
